Untitled
by humor my lips
Summary: This is the story of what happens when you let me take a run at the modern P&P. I can promise you a lot of twists and turns that would make you forget the grammar mistakes and keep on reading!... R&R COMPLETE
1. Getting Kicked Out

**I cannot think well of a man who sports with any woman's feelings and there may often be a great deal more suffered than a stander-by can judge of.**

**Jane Austen**

**Chapter I: Getting Kicked Out**

Do you know what I think? Of course you don't. Do you want to know what I think? Of course you don't, but you're going to have to listen because this is my story.

I think love sucks, you can dress it up with pink bows and roses but in the end, it comes back and bites you in the ass. It hurts when love bites, it does. This is my love story.

"What? You're breaking up with me!" I said hysterically.

"Lizzy, please calm down." John, my (I guess) now ex-boyfriend said to me in our apartment of two months.

"How can I calm down when you're trying to beak up with me?" I just had to sit down. Sadly there were no chairs in the apartment yet so I settled down on a milk crate as it threatens to collapse under me.

"Lizzy, I just think that, since we're going to college in a month, we should go our separate ways and meet new people." John tried to put on an innocent face but knowing him for as long as I have made me see right through him.

"John, we're going to the same college so don't give me that kind of crap! If you want to break up with me then tell me right now, don't work your way around it, but what are we going to do with this apartment?" I'm a strong girl; I don't need to cry over him. I did cry in the end though, but at least I had enough pride not to cry in front of a person who's dumping me.

"Well about that… I was hoping if I could have it." John nervously said, knowing that there would be a lot more yelling.

"What? You can't have it! If you take it, then where am I going to live?" I was not letting him have the apartment without a fight. I refused to be put out by an ex-boyfriend. Then what does that make of a current boyfriend kicking you out? Well, I haven't thought about it that far.

"Well, you can always live in the dorms at Yale." John suggested. Every word that was coming out of his mouth was like broken glass pressed onto my back.

"You have to pay to live in the dorms, John. Besides, this is also my apartment. So, why don't you go live in the dorms?" I couldn't believe I was actually talking to this jerk!

"Technically, this is _my_ apartment, since you weren't 18 yet when I signed the lease. So, this really isn't your apartment." Did I say that John was a jerk? No, scratch that, now he was being a downright jackass. I couldn't believe that I'm getting kicked out! "Besides, Lizzy, it's not like your parents didn't have the money to pay for the dorms." John said condescendingly. He knew how I felt about my parents' money. I got up and I bitch slapped him. Yes, I said bitch slapped, like in the movies. It actually felt really good inside, you should do it sometime, vent out your anger.

"You've known me long enough to know that you do not talk about my parents like that. If you want me out, then fine. Give me an hour and I'll be gone." John agreed and left for a walk outside (I hoped he gets run over by a car). When he left, I was all alone and yet I refused to cry. I refused to cry until I was as far away from here as possible. I took my suitcase out of the closet and started packing. I sat there packing, thinking about what actually was happening.

I haven't done anything wrong, I don't think. I've been a dedicated girlfriend over the years, heck I even stayed up with John to study with him so he wouldn't fail his finals. Without me, he wouldn't even get into Yale. That was kind of selfish of me, wasn't it? Thinking that I single handedly got John into an Ivy League school? You would have to forgive me then, won't you?

I wondered if I've become plain to him. People would disagree that I'm plain; I have too much wit and energy to be boring. That might be why, John knew me too well that he was beginning to think that there was nothing new with me anymore. Or maybe it was because I wouldn't have sex with him. (Kids, don't give in to peer pressure!) Yes people, even after dating the same guy for four years, I was still a virgin. It wasn't like I'm religious or anything, don't get me wrong. I just needed that signal, that feeling telling me that the guy I was with was the one. You know _the one_. The one for me, the guy I was destined to be with... my fate. Yes, I believed in that sort of stuff, but didn't it sound romantic? Of course, there could be more than _one_.

I know what you thinking, "So John isn't _the one_?" I don't think he is, but he might be _the one _for somebody else, just not for me. Either way I was still heartbroken.

I didn't have that much to pack so I finished early. I took my suitcase and looked around the apartment. For some reason, it looked bigger even though nothing has changed (except for the fact that I didn't live here anymore). I went out towards my car and suddenly, as if on cue, I felt a wave of sadness washed over me and I started crying, (So much for getting as far away from here as possible.) After 10 minutes or so, I was done. I was over John. After wiping those tears off my face, I drove home to my parents.

My parents, Mary and Fred Bennet, are really nice people. They live in New York and are happily situated there. People might say that I was a rich girl but I wouldn't say so. I has a very hard time accepting that my family had money. Until I was 14 years old, people would say that my family didn't have any money at all. My dad was a struggling business owner and my mom was a baker. If it weren't for the stock success, I believed that my family would still be living in a two-room apartment trying very hard to pay the rent every month. The success of the bakery that my family owned soon followed. Because of the sudden amount of money that my family received, I always felt that it could disappear any day. That's why I had a hard time spending my parents' money hoping the more I saved, the more money that wwould help us when that day came, when it was needed the most. I've managed to pay for college with the money I saved from previous jobs and scholarships but I was literally penniless now and had no way to pay for dorms at Yale and school started in a month. I knew that my parents would be glad to pay for something in my life but I would feel so guilty about it. I figured that the best way was to ask for a loan from them, at least it would feel business-like.

Some love story this was going to turn out to be. I got dump and turned homeless. But like I said, "Love sucks."

_A/N: Hey! This is humor my lips here and I would like to thank you for making it this far before getting bored with the story. This is my first fanfic and usually I should be saying something like "please be nice" or "refrain from reviewing harshly" but I'm not going to say that. Please be harsh, it'll help make this story better. I know that there are grammatical errors in this story and frankly, I wouldn't care unless it really bothered you. So tell me if they do. I believe in posting quickly but I'll probably post like every three days so please be patient. Thanks for reading this note and if you have any questions, just put it in your review and I'll cross my heart and hope to die to try to answer it the best I can. (This whole note sounds really cheesy to me.)_


	2. My Parents' Offer

**A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of.**

**Jane Austen**

**Chapter II: My Parents' Offer**

"This is it." I said to no one in the car as I drove up the driveway leading to my parents' place which also happened to be a very big house. (My parents decided long ago that they wanted lots of space, I said that they were idiots to want to buy a big house for a family of three.)

I got out of the car with my suitcase and walked up to the door. I rang the doorbell and Mom opened the door. Mom isn't exactly old. Actually, for a woman her age, I would say that she looked quite young.

"Hi, Mom." I said.

"Lizzy! What are you doing here?" Mom said with shock. Mom had been very pretty when she was young and I took after her the most. I had very high metabolism, so no I was skinny as a stick. My thick hair was a rich dark auburn color, so it was always hard to tell if my hair was black or red. I might look like my mother, but my eyes…my eyes were my dad's. They were brown, nothing special about them really but sometimes, there was a twinkle in them. Or so they say.

"Is it so strange that a daughter just wants to come and visit her parents?" I said jokingly.

"Of course not, come in." She said as she hushed me into the house, looking worried at my suitcase.

"So, Mom, where's Dad?" I asked.

"He's upstairs. Fred, come down and look who's here to see us!" Mom shouted.

She led me to the living room and I sat down in one of my favorite armchairs. Dad walked down the stairs, looked at me for a second and let out a smile.

"Lizzy! Good for you to come and visit us." Dad was a jolly man and full of energy for a man in his late 40's.

"About that, I have something to ask you two." I said, trying to mask away my nervousness.

"What is it, dear?" Mom asked, looking more worried than she did before.

"Well, John broke up with me and as you know, we were going to share an apartment together." I paused, "John decided that since the apartment was under his name that he was going to keep it and that I should live in the dorms. Here's the problem, I can't come up with $40,000 to pay for the dorms."

I would've continued with my situation but Dad raised his hand for me to stop.

"Lizzy, you know that we will happily pay for your dorm room." He said with a warm smile.

"That's the thing, I don't want you to pay for it, Dad. I want you to loan me the money so I can pay it back to you when I get to work."

"But Lizzy, we want to pay for it though." Mom insisted.

"Mom, Dad, I want a loan and if you don't want to give it to me, then I can just get a loan from a bank."

"No!" My parents said in unison. With the amount of interest that you would have to pay, I understood why my parents would be worried. "Fine, we'll give the loan under some condition."

"So close." I whispered under my breath. Now they were going to try to make it easier for me and I didn't want that.

"Ok, what are they?" I said, hoping for the best.

"We will pay for any living situations you get into but you can't pay us back until you get out of graduate school, and that there will be no interest to the loan. Also, you will have to let us transfer some money into your bank account."

"Why!" I asked shock.

"We want you to have some money for personal stuff like clothes and the occasional cups of coffee." They said with an amusing smile.

"I can't accept that, it's too much."

"Accept it, we want you to have it and besides, all those money saved in your college bank account has to go somewhere." Now that was something I didn't know.

"Wait, I have a college account?"

"Of course, why wouldn't you have one?"

"How come I didn't know about this?"

"You were so stubborn about paying for college that you wouldn't let us tell you that you already had money for Yale. Now would you accept these terms for your loan?" Dad said.

"I guess I will. Thanks a lot, Mom and Dad, I really appreciate it."

"You're our only daughter, Lizzy. Theoretically, we're allowed to spoil you." Mom said cupping my cheeks with her soft hands. "Now, let's get your stuff up to your room, I hope you'll be staying here for awhile?"

"Maybe for a while, until school starts I guess. I hope you won't mind, Mom." I said, following her up the stairs.

"Of course I don't, and I'm sure your dad won't mind having you around a little longer until you go off to college." Mom smiled.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

The next day, I called Yale to see if they had an empty room for me. I was told that if I was able to find an extra room in the dorm then I would be able to pay for it. I guess that was what happen when you call in so late for a dorm. I was feeling pretty down about the whole situation with John and school that I called up Jane for coffee.

"How are you, Lizzy?" Jane asked sweetly. Jane Bennet: my cousin, a very smart girl that has never been lucky in love, but was always considerate of others.

"I'm fine, Jane. Don't worry."

"Good, I really don't want you to cry over that jerk, ok?"

"I have cried, but I'll never do it again, but there is something else that I'm worried about."

"What?"

"John kicked me out and I have about three weeks to find a place to live in New Haven. I was hoping that you would know somebody with a dorm room or an apartment that I could go to?" I've been thinking about this option for a while. I wouldn't really have to live in a dorm; I could just share an apartment with someone. I asked Jane because I figured that she would know people decent enough (if not good) for me to feel safe sharing an apartment with and not waking up in the middle of the night finding that there was an axe murderer that wanted to chop me up alive or something.

"You know," Jane smiled. "I think I still don't have a roommate at Yale. Why don't you be that person?"

I immediately brightened up. I had forgotten that Jane was also going to Yale. (How could I forget something like that?)

"That would be great, Jane! Thank you so much!" Sharing a room with Jane was more than I could've hoped for but now that I think about it, it would make going to college a lot more fun. Jane might be the quiet and shy type to many people but she was fun to party with.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Are you going to Aunt Lucy's going away party on Friday?" Jane asked.

"Yeah, the party is for us after all."

"Does she know that you're single again?"

"I haven't told her, but I'm sure my mom has."

"You know what this means, right?"

" 'This is the night, girls, the night where you will meet handsome men and fall in love or at least get married long enough for you to divorce him and give me half his fortune' it pains me to say, but that line has never gone out of style for her." I said in a high fake valley girl voice of which I would assume my aunt would've sound like.

Jane laughed, "You were so lucky throughout high school. You had a boyfriend and I was stuck at Aunt Lucy's parties meeting 'all the little suitors' that wanted to buy me a drink."

I also laughed at her impersonation of our aunt. It wasn't like Jane looked old enough to drink, it was that she was so beautiful that guys (college guys no less; I've always wondered where Aunt Lucy actually found these guys that would just show up out of nowhere.) would just want to either buy her a drink or just ask her out. She was so afraid of hurting their feelings that she ended up saying yes to every single one of them, get emotionally attach and end up being broken hearted of the way that things worked out.

"Well, I'll be there for your rescue and of course Monica will also be there, so you wouldn't be alone anymore." I said to comfort her.

"She broke up with her boyfriend too?."

"Yeah, she told me yesterday. The guy apparently told her that he loved her." I whispered.

"Ooh, bad move for him."

"Of course, you never tell a girl that you love her unless she tells you first. Especially if you say that to Monica, she has the girl manual memorize."

"I feel sorry for the guy, but we're so heart-screwed that it's not even funny."

"It's a little funny." We both looked at each other and broke out laughing.

"I think I'm going to the bakery today, you coming?" I asked as I took the last sip of my coffee.

"Sorry, can't. I have to go to the day care for my shift."

"Take care of those babies well, Jane."

"Like they're my own, right?"

"Right."

_A/N: Well, that's chapter 2 for yah. Thanks to jayley and riotgirllina for being my first reviewers. I feel so great when I get a review. Now I know that there are more readers out there. See the button on the bottom that says "submit a review"? Press "Go" and write me something to show me that you read it. Thanks!_


	3. The New Guy

**I do not want people to be agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them.**

**Jane Austen**

Chapter III: The New Guy

_The Serendipity Bakery _was, normally enough, between a French restaurant and a flower shop. It was in New York City and sometimes that could be a good thing or a bad thing. It was just one of the ups and downs of business. I parked my car on the side of the street and walked up the steps to the bakery. I walked in to see the store as busy as ever. The fresh smell of cookies and other baked goods just made me want to eat a whole cheesecake or something. (With a cup of iced lemon tea and a slice of cheesecake with chocolate sauce drizzled over the plate, and sitting right next to the open streets of New York…that's a nice thought.)

I sneaked into the kitchen (showing just how busy the bakery really was today) and putted on an apron. Everybody was rushing around me and I decided that I should bake my well-known chocolate chip cookies for the crew. (The secret was to put a little nutmeg into the dough.) I was on my way to get the cookies out of the oven when somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and saw the most gorgeous guy I've ever laid my eyes on. He looked like he could replace Patrick Dempsey on _Grey's Anatomy_ any day. (I'm going to assume that you know what I'm talking about) I mean, seriously, this guy is hot!

"Can I help you with something, Miss?" The guy said.

"Nope, I'm fine. I'm just getting the cookies out of the oven." I said casually. I had a way with guys. I would say that I was a little tom-boyish myself because I didn't get all choked up like other girls and quite frankly, I would give them a punch if I felt like it.

"Do you work here?"

"No, but I really have to get the cookies out." I said, noticing that it really was time to get the cookies out or they would get burnt.

"That won't be necessary, since you will be leaving the bakery." The guy said with no expressions on his face.

"What? What for?" I said, shocked. This guy didn't seem to know that I was allowed to be here.

"For trespassing." He said simply.

"Trespassing?" I said with a tone of calm disbelief. "I'm not trespassing, just so you'd know."

"You don't work here and I don't know who you are. So, in my rulebook, that would be trespassing." He must have thought that I was stupid or something. I knew what trespassing was.

"Well, your "rulebook" is apparently wrong, because I'm not _trespassing_." I sarcastically said.

"Miss, if you don't leave now, I will be forced to call security."

My face was full of shock. We don't have security but I was assuming that this guy was seriously going to kick me out.

The argument was beginning to get pretty loud and people were slowing down but still rushed around to get all the customers served. The guy was about to make a move to grab my arm. I wouldn't let this jerk (but a very cute jerk) kick me out. (I had already been kicked out by a guy once and I was not going to let another guy do it to me again.)

"Is there anybody here who doesn't think that I should be in this kitchen right now?" I shouted into the air. Everybody stopped what they were doing and looked at who was shouting.

They all broke out into a big grin and yelled "Lizzy!" They rushed over to hug me.

"Where have you been for the past two months, Lizzy?" Kate said.

"Oh you know, around and about." I said. I just remembered what I was about to do when that jerk wanted call security on me. (Where was he anyway?)

I rushed over to the oven and quickly pulled out the cookie sheets. (I had oven gloves, don't you worry.) The smell was incredible and I was lucky that none of them got burned. I placed them into a basket and offered everybody one. I assured them that I made plenty and they happily accepted the cookies.

I saw the guy standing in the corner staring at the bread oven. He was definitely lost in thoughts.

"You know if you stare at a baking oven too long, your brain will melt." I said. The guy seemed to have been shock to find someone standing next to him.

"I didn't know you were here."

"Of course you didn't, if you did, you wouldn't be surprised, now would you?" I asked jokingly.

"I guess you're right." He smiled.

"By the way, you're new right? What's your name?" I said casually.

"Will Darcy, I just started last month."

"Lizzy Bennet, nice to meet you, and I hope you now know who I am?" I asked, shaking his hand.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I didn't know Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had a daughter."

"That's ok; you've only been here for a month. I forgive you. Here, have a cookie. It's really good." I tempted him. The cookies really were good; I knew that Will had liked it.

So we just stood there, eating the cookies and staring at the bread.

"So, are you going to work here for a while?" Most of the workers at the bakery were interns aspiring to be bakers or pastry chefs. I wondered if Will was here for the same reason as well.

"Not for much longer, school's starting soon and I'll have to go back." Will kind of looked sad for a moment.

"Where do you go to school then?"

"I'm a Junior at Yale in New Haven. You?" He asked. So, Will Darcy went to Yale too. Hmm…I guess college will be fun after all. What a coincidence too, huh?

I looked down at my watch and said, "Look at the time, I have to go. Nice meeting you, Will."

"Wait," he called after me, "you didn't answer my question."

"That's because I don't want to answer you." I said, walking backwards as I talked. I walked off to my car, waving goodbyes to everybody.

_A/N: Hey! Thank you to all my reviewers, you're making this writing process so much fun. You might think that Aunt Lucy's party would be after the scene with Lizzy and Jane but no, it was the bakery trip. How did you like Will Darcy so far? I like putting in witty lines into my story and if there are any quotes or dialog lines that you would like for me to put into my story (they may be from TV shows or something you've heard) then just put it into the review and I'll try my best. (That's a promise too!) _


	4. Aunt Lucy's Party

_Disclaimer: I just remembered that I haven't put on a disclaimer for this story. I' m sorry. Only Lizzy, Jane, Will, and Bingley (and a couple of others) are the characters that I don't own. They belong to Jane Austen, of course. Most of the situations (almost all) are created by me and if you ever do decide to sue me for whatever reason in relations to this story, you will get nothing but 4 CDs and 5 manga books. (And also my P&P but there is no way I'm allowing you to get that.)_

**Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about.**

**Trey Parker and Matt Stone**

**Chapter IV: My Aunt Lucy's Party**

My Aunt Lucy has a very big heart but, sadly, has a very big mouth to go with it too. She loved to gossip and it seemed that she did nothing all day but talked and have tea with her chatty friends. It might seem mean of me to say these things about my aunt but trust me, it was all true. She meant well, she really does, but she seemed to think that everybody's concern was also the world's concern also.

That wasjust a downfall, I suppose. After all, she was only 30 years old. Quite young, don't you think? Yeah, Aunt Lucy married my "wealthy" Uncle Jack only a year ago (that was his family's word actually) and it seemed that Aunt Lucy really does love Uncle Jack. It was just that she never showed it to the world, that was all. People called her a gold digger, but my aunt had a heart and dignity and she loved Uncle Jack dearly. It was one of the many qualities that made Aunt Lucy so lovable to Uncle Jack.

Now this dinner, that I was going to, was just a friendly gathering, celebrating family and friends who are going to college soon. It was really like a going away party, Aunt Lucy tended to make things a bit more extravagant than it really needed to be. That was why therewould be lots of people there and I assured you that when my aunt fould out that I was single, there would be hell. All I can really hope for was to see Jane and Monica there.

Here I was driving to my aunt's place, when I saw the house with a ton of cars parked alongside the street. There were hundreds of white Christmas lights hanging from the rooftop all the way down to the ivies that were growing on the side of the house.

"Is she having a party or what?" I asked myself. (My parents decided to not go, saying that any gathering that had Aunt Lucy planning it would involve a big headache for them. I don't blame them really.)

I parked my car on the other side of the street and walked up to the house. There were lots of people in there and it was really hard getting through. Finally, I saw the two people I was most eager to be with tonight. Jane and Monica were both sitting together in the corner.

Is this the part where I introduce Monica to you? It is? Sorry, well, Monica Finn is a very dear friend of mine and both she and Jane are my best friends and I wouldn't be me without them. We all grew up together and it was them that I've shared my deepest darkest secrets to.

"Now girls, I am disappointed in you. I've taught you better than that. As Patrick Swayze would say, "Nobody puts Baby (well in this case, "Babies") in a corner." I grinned.

"Hey, Lizzy" Monica said, standing up to give me a hug.

"Where have you been, Lizzy?" Jane asked.

"There was a lot of traffic getting here. Sorry for the wait. What have you guys been doing?"

"Monica was just about to tell me what she did this past month." Jane said.

"And?" I looked at Monica.

"I've been off to _Paris_ to max my credit cards before a whole year of hell at NYU." Monica said slyly but ended with a smile. Monica was such a sucker for shopping bags.

"And you, Jane?" Monica turned to her after a few minutes of giggling. (Ha-ha we giggled.)

"Well, I actually saved enough money to fly over to Russia for two weeks to visit Maria." Jane said proudly. (Oh, did I mention that Jane had a heart of gold. She's been sponsoring a girl in Russia for the past couple of years. She was such a sweet girl!)

"How is Maria?" I asked.

"She's great; she's actually at the top of her class this year."

"Wonderful, tell her that I hope she keeps up the great work. Now, why don't we go find Aunt Lucy and see how many guys she has already racked up for us?" I grabbed Jane and Monica's arm and dragged them out into the backyard where Aunt Lucy would surly to be found.

"I hope Lucy didn't invite NYU guys like last time. Last thing I want is to make a mockery out of myself in front of people who I might as well spend the next four years of my life with." Monica said.

"I'm sure that nothing would happen tonight, except maybe Jane getting about seven different phone numbers." I said.

"I would say more like thirteen, Lizzy."

"Want to bet on that statement, Finn?"

"Twenty dollars by tomorrow morning. I'm not scared of you, Bennet."

"Neither am I."

"I cannot believe you guys are making a bet out of this." Jane said, sounding very disappointed that she was the only sensible person out of the three of us. I couldn't really blame her. Even though we were the same age, Jane had always been the person taking care of Monica and me ever since we were little. That's why I would always help Jane out if she would ever find herself in a sticky situation. Of course, I would never worry about something like that because she would never allow herself to get into trouble.

"It's not a bet Jane." Monica said. (But it is a bet though; even I said that it was.) "It's really more of a prediction of the outcome of the night. It's supposed to boost your ego."

"I don't need to have an ego boost. My ego is big enough." Jane said, sulking with her head down. Monica and I just stood there and watched as Jane unknowingly ran into the door making a loud bang noise that could be heard across the crowded room.

"And besides Monica, a person doesn't need to have such a big head that they can't even fit through the door." I said philosophically as we quickly grabbed Jane's arm and pulled her out into the backyard. "Now let's go find Aunt Lucy, shall we?"

_A/N: Hello everybody! You asked for chapter 4 and you got it too. You might be thinking how I managed to get these chapters out so fast. I've actually had these chapters written out already for a couple of months now but have never summed up the courage to put them up. All I needed to do is to edit the chapters and I was able to get them up so fast. After about the 10th chapter or so the update should slow down a bit and I apologize in advance. Thanks to all my reviewers for reviewing and I know that there is more out there so I would like to ask you to please review. If you do then I will grant you a cyber monkey! Yes, a cyber monkey. Thanks for reading! _


	5. Never Drink Gin and Sprite

**Drinking makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it's compounding a felony.**

**Robert Benchley**

**Chapter V: Never Drink Gin and Sprite**

And surly enough there she was, in the gazebo, drinking from what looked like a keg. Wait a minute…did I just say keg? Let me look back…yeah keg. What? Aunt Lucy had a keg! I couldn't believe that!

"Aunt Lucy, what is that?" I said when we got to the gazebo, pointing to the thing in front of me.

"It's a keg, Lizzy. What did you think it was?" Aunt Lucy said, sounding a little drunk.

"Exactly that." I mumbled to myself.

"Now, how are all of my little chickabees?" Aunt Lucy said after swallowing a big gulp of whatever was in that keg.

"We're all fine but Lucy, isn't this supposed to be a dinner? What would Jack say about this?" Monica asked.

"Oh, Jack's away in Canada and he won't be back until next week, so he would never know." Aunt Lucy seemed really proud of herself. "And besides, how can I let three of my favorite girls go off to college without a party?" and here was where Aunt Lucy went into a very loud rant about how special we were and pinched our cheeks like babies.

We were completely horrified and quickly (but slyly) walked away from the gazebo. When we got back into the house, there were a lot of more people there than before, it was getting to a point that I thought that I could suffocate at any time.

Aunt Lucy has thrown a lot great parties in the past but I have to say that this one didn't even top the list…at all. It doesn't even make the list. There was bad music, and guys who were not in any sense of the word 'cute'. It was so boring to a point that even Jane (sweet and beautiful Jane) started drinking from what was in the keg. The drink was only sprite and ginger ale (What kind of combination was that?) so we thought it was ok to drink a few cups. What we didn't know was that when the guy poured us our cups, he had in fact mixed up ginger ale with gin. What did you think happened when we drank said few cups? Yep, we were drunk. (The three of us were really bored so we had more than a "few" cups but you get what I'm trying to say, right?)

It was pretty embarrassing to re-tell what happened that night, but somebody had to do it, right? Well as you know, I was drunk. (What a shock!) Jane and Monica had enough sense to actually go to Aunt Lucy's empty bedroom to lie down. (They weren't feeling well.) But no, I wanted to stay, so they left me. Here I was just sitting on the couch, when Will walked into the room. (Remember, that was the guy who thought I was a trespasser. (The really hot one)) I was quite happy but at the same time pretty dizzy, so that didn't help much.

I went up to him and asked, "What are you doing here, Will?"

"Ummm…the interns at the bakery said that there was a party, so I came to check it out."

"Oh…" I was about to say something else when a Frank Sinatra song came out of the speakers (What self-respecting DJ would play that at a party?) and as my drunken-self would allow me, I asked, "Want to dance?"

I could almost see in Will's eyes that he was trying to figure out whether or not he should say yes. I would have been fine if he said no (given a good enough excuse, of course) but he agreed to dance with me.

I took his hand and pulled him into the living room that wasn't so crowded with people and wrapped my arms around his neck. It was a nice slow song, and we both seemed lost for words.

"You know I'm a little out of it, right?" I asked him.

"You are?" he asked back as though I shouldn't be drinking. (Which was true, but I didn't know.)

"I think there was something in the drink that they gave me."

"You need to be careful about those kinds of things. Don't get yourself tricked or something worse."

"Why are you so concerned about me?" I ask jokingly. "After all, I only just met you."

"I don't know. Maybe because you come off as being gullible and that's always something bad."

"Not always, but I see what you're trying to say…I think." I cocked my head to the right to show that I was trying to think.

I did a spin and since I was also being my clumsy self, I ended up losing my balance and falling into Will. And I'm not saying falling into his arms either, I mean falling into Will hard enough to make him fall down too. The fall itself was embarrassing but it didn't stop us from laughing our heads off, but there was something different about Will. He suddenly looked into my eyes and leaned in closed to me and I leaned in too. He then kissed me.

It was a nice kiss from what I can remember and there was this scent coming from Will that was very puzzling. I couldn't figure it out but it was a very nice scent. When he pulled away, I leaned in for another. In the corner of my eye, I saw Will looking to the left but I didn't put much thought into it. (Maybe if I did, I wouldn't have been so confused.) So I was about to kiss him, when he looked at me and quickly stood up. He left the room, with me just sitting there with a confused look on my face. I couldn't decide what to do next, but I ended up following him. I sat down on a chair by a big window that outlooked the lawn.

I could clearly remember watching Will walk out onto the lawn, looking frustrated when a girl, that looked like she should be on display for _Dolce & Gabbana_, turned around to Will and slapped him. She began to leave when Will grabbed her arm, looking like he was trying to explain something. She didn't seem like she bought what he was saying. In a rage of anger, the girl took off her ring and threw it at his face. The band was from her ring finger…on her left hand.

The rest of the night was somewhat like a daze, I remember walking up the stairs and into my aunt's bedroom. I laid down on the big bed with Jane and Monica (who were sleeping), closed my eyes, and fell asleep too.

_A/N: Hello! How have my readers been? Good, I hope. Well, thanks again for your reviews, I loved it all! Chapter 5 will most likely be up tomorrow. And this is the part where I will answer your questions:_

_**teenchic2004**: In answer to your questions, I made Lizzy an only child because the Bennets weren't as wealthy as they are now and because I made Lizzy's parents sensible, it would be reasonable for them to only have one child. (Couldn't afford to have more children, you know?) I didn't know that much about colleges but I once saw that room and board at Yale would be about $10,000 a year and because Lizzy likes to think ahead when it comes to money, I made it so that she would ask for a $40,000 loan for her stay at Yale. As to Mr. Darcy…well, that kind of get answers (not by him) in the next chapter. Thanks for asking questions!_

_To all my present and future reviewers, I present to you a cyber monkey. Ooh ooh ahh ahh scratches head with foot _


	6. The Thing About William Darcy

**The truth is rarely pure and never simple.**

**Oscar Wilde**

**Chapter VI: The Thing about William Darcy**

I woke up the next morning with a big hangover. My head was hurting so much but… I didn't know if my heart was hurting too. Jane and Monica were beginning to wake up too and while we were getting ready for breakfast, I told them about what happened the night before.

"What a jerk!" Monica looked disgusted by this as she tried to say it while brushing her teeth. She was whispering, because we all had migraines and was very sensitive to sound.

"Yeah, I know." I agreed with her, while flossing. "And I have to see this guy at Yale too. What am I going to do?" I was dreading the thought.

"Well, you don't have too." Jane assured me. "Like you said, he's a junior and he doesn't know that you're going to the same school too. So he would have no way of knowing that you would even be there. And besides, I'll be there to help you."

I thanked them for letting me talk to them and we all went down to see if we could make some breakfast. When we came down, we saw Aunt Lucy with a large cup of coffee and a tired look on her face.

"Hey, Aunt Lucy, do you still have anymore of that coffee?" I whispered to her.

She only nodded and pointed to the pot that was on the counter. She made a lot; I guess she knew that we had slept here overnight. (We did sleep in her bed.) Jane grabbed the pot and proceeded in pouring us cups while Monica went to put some cinnamon rolls into the oven. I sat down at the table with Aunt Lucy.

"How are you doing?" I whispered to her.

She cringed a little, but nodded and said, "I'm going to be fine. And are you girls ok?"

We all nodded. We were quiet for a moment, but then Aunt Lucy looked like she just remembered something important. When everything was done, the rolls were out, and the coffee was poured, Aunt Lucy looked at me sternly.

"Now, Lizzy, there is something that I have to ask you. What is your relationship with William Darcy?"

Jane, Monica, and I looked at each other and I said," Nothing really, I just met him at the bakery."

"Then why were you kissing him last night?"

"I was drunk, Aunt Lucy, that's it." I defended myself. "There was something in my drink."

"Do you know who William Darcy is?"

"Is that a trick question?" I asked, kind of jokingly but Aunt Lucy didn't seem to like it.

"Lizzy, this is a serious issue. William Darcy is next in line to run his family's company. Darcy Corp. is one of the most successful oil companies out there. The guy is filthy rich and he's engage to hotel heiress, Anne de Bourgh." She said matter-of-factly.

"Not any more." The three of us said in complete unison.

"What are you talking about?" Aunt Lucy asked us with a look of suspicion.

"We're just saying that he's not engaged anymore."

"How would you know?"

"There may have been an intervention…on my part?" I said nervously, not knowing what to say to sum up what happened.

"What?"

"Well, it's quite a long story."

"I have time."

So I once again recounted what happened last night which was really making me sound repetitive. How many times can you really tell a story until it just gets boring? Apparently one time, but like gossip, the story gets told again and again so much that it becomes almost meaningless.

"Well, I would have never thought that my Lizzy would become the 'other woman'." She said it as if it was a word that was forbidden to say in society.

"But I didn't know, what I don't know shouldn't hurt me, right?"

"On the contrary, my dear, when you do find out the truth, it will hurt you more than how you will feel if you knew beforehand." My aunt said. I have never known Aunt Lucy to have so much wisdom. I always thought that she had great makeup and fashion tips, but that morning, she proved me wrong.

Honestly, I was stunned at what she's told me about this guy. Confused I asked, "If he's so filthy rich, then why would he be working at _The Serendipity Bakery_?"

"He might have needed the internship in business." Jane suggested.

"Or he's not like those rich kids that only party; maybe he likes the independent feeling and what better way to have that feeling than working at a bakery." Monica added.

"I would seriously doubt that." I said.

"Mary said that the new manager at the bakery needed the job for his economics class or something, but I wouldn't understand why he couldn't do that at his parents' company." Aunt Lucy said.

"I don't think I have any care for what happens to _William Darcy_. All I know is that he is a heartless jerk and I wouldn't care if he drowns in his own vomit." I said, taking a hard stab at my cinnamon roll. It made a loud noise as the fork scratched the plate and it sounded like nails on a chalkboard. Everybody cringed (even me) at the noise but went on to eating and drinking.

So, that was how the morning went. Jane, Monica, and I helped Aunt Lucy clean up the house and I drove home afterward, promising Jane and Monica that I would go shopping with them later on. (We may look like three mature intelligent college girls but really, deep inside, we are three giggling childish kids who talk about guys and make-up all day long…not really, but you get the point.)

_A/N: Hello! How are you? I have a feeling that this wasn't a very good chapter but it gets better toward the next few chapters, I promise. I'm more of a math geek so I don't know why I'm writing, but there it is. Thanks to all my reviewers, I loved your reaction to the last chapter. Sorry, it wasn't Caroline even better…Anne!_

_**teenchic2004:** Thanks for the review; I also thought that the chapter was very good in the beginning. This story isn't very close to P&P. I would say that this is a very different story besides the fact that I took the main character. There are clues in the story of what scene or character I had in mind while writing this. See if you can find it, it won't be for everything but mostly there is a hint. As for the room and board thing, it really is around 10 grand a year but I haven't really thought about what would happen if you had roommates but wouldn't that get factored into the cost already since you would definitely have a roommate? _

_Now that I know that there are actual people reading this story, I feel a lot happier. Thank you so much for reading. Now I was thinking about a title for this story. Would you mind giving some suggestions? Thanks!_


	7. Charlie Bingley

**You know what charm is: a way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear question.**

**Albert Camus**

**Chapter VII: Charlie Bingley**

For the rest of the month, it was pretty much the same. Everyday I woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned the house (we didn't have a maid and I liked to relieved stress by cleaning), ate lunch, hung out with Jane and Monica, ate dinner, watched TV, and went to bed. It might seemed boring but it was the routine and sometimes, it was pretty relaxing.

Finally, today was the day. It was the day that I (some might say) willingly have to go to hell. I'm sure college is supposed to be one of the most life-changing and best times of my life but really, I don't see it. Maybe something might happen that I never saw coming. I might come out of this experience more different than before; then again, I might be the same person I have always been. You never know.

That day I met up with Jane and Monica with all my things packed into my car. I said goodbye to Monica and Jane, and I drove (separately) to Yale. When we got there, everything here looked so much bigger. The buildings looked like castles that should be visited and admired, not routinely walk through and litter.

"Wow…it's more amazing than when we visited, Lizzy." Jane smiled in awe.

"Yeah." I whispered. "Well, we're students now and that's makes everything different."

We just stood there and looked at the buildings; we didn't notice that a girl in her twenties was looking at us with a knowing smile.

"Looks great, doesn't it?" she asked.

We finally snapped back into reality and Jane said, "Yeah it is. Sorry about that."

"That's quite alright. Everybody does it when they realize where they are. Now I'm Emily, your RA, and I'll always be here for you if you ever need any help. Now, I need your names to give you your keys." Emily seemed really nice. She showed us our dorm building and it looked even more amazing, now that it our own.

We looked around our dorm. It was a picture out of a Martha Stewart magazine; it was perfect in a way that it wasn't perfect. Like it was small for four people but it was ours. (Technically, Yale owns the dorms but you get the meaning.) Our own independence, our own responsibility to keep it in order, it was that feeling that made the room feel instantly like home.

Jane decided that after everything was packed away (and trust me, we were hard workers and there was nothing in this world than couldn't be done in three hours), we should go to the post office, so that Jane could send a present to Maria for her birthday. I was happy to go, because you couldn't spend all day packing away, no matter how much it relieved your stress.

After everything was put away in our bedroom (the other two roommates hadn't come yet), Jane took out her present, which was a pretty silver necklace with a pink gem hanging from it. We walked to the post office on campus, (Yes, there was an actual post office on campus.) which was luckily near the guys' dorm buildings. If it weren't for that reason, then I guess I would never get to see one of my best friends be very happy in love.

When we got there, everybody seemed to be more focus about moving their stuff into their new rooms than really meeting anybody, but I guess that would be understandable, since orientation wasn't until tomorrow. (Of course, the fun doesn't start until tomorrow either.)

Jane opened the door first, when she walked right into someone. She dropped the gift box. When she bent down to pick it up, her eyes met with the guy she bumped into. This guy, I reflected, was really eye pleasing, but he had that gullible look that truly remindsed me of Jane. Not the type I would go for, but Jane on the other hand….

I stood there, just looking at them. It seemed that the world stopped when they met eyes (when in fact only a few minutes have gone by). I figured that I might never be able to witnessed love at first sight ever again, but I should interrupt their trance before people start noticing.

"Uh hmm…" I cleared my throat. It seemed to have woken them up, because they started blinking and they both turned to look at me as they slowly stood up. "Hi," I said holding out my hand. "I'm Lizzy Bennet and this is my cousin Jane."

"I'm Charlie Bingley, nice to meet you." I think he directed that to Jane, because he never did let go of her hand when he shook it.

After a while of complete silence, I slowly hurried Jane along into the building, apologizing to Charlie when he stopped us.

"Wait, I'm having a party at the Neverfield Hotel. It's a masked ball and I would like it if you'd come."

Jane and I looked at each other and decided that it would be fun to go to a party. Charlie gave us the details and we bid our goodbyes.

"Well?" I asked Jane with a questioning smile.

"What?" she asked with an embarrass look on her face.

"That guy we just meet, (Charlie, was it?), was completely drooling over you."

"No, he wasn't." Jane blushed, trying to defend herself when she knew that it was true (in her heart, of course).

"Oh please, he would have grabbed and ravish you right then and there if it weren't for me interrupting you two." I laughed.

We sent the gift and headed back to our rooms. During that whole time we just talked about the party and what we were going to wear.

"It's going to be a masquerade, so it wouldn't be that bad, right?"

"Yeah." Jane agreed. "And besides, even if that Darcy guy is going to be there, it's not like he'll know that you're going too." Jane said, thinking that the possibility that Will Darcy might be there was the reason of my worry.

"Why would I care if Darcy is there or not?"

"Oh, nothing." Jane said.

_A/N: Hello everybody! How have you been? Next chapter is really the chapter that you shouldn't miss. I think it's going to be great and long. Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are so loyal and so awesome! So the next chapter will hopefully be put up tomorrow and please review this one. Please? Thanks for reading! _


	8. Charlie's Party

**Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain - and most fools do.**

**Dale Carnegie**

**Chapter VIII: Charlie's Party**

The week passed by without much trouble. It was spent enjoying the new life and place with Jane. The food was great. (Who ever knew cafeteria food would be so good?) It was fun exploring New Haven (it was so much different from New York!) Class didn't even start for another week so all I had to do was relax and be grateful I had the time before all hell broke loose and homework came by the load.

You know those roommates that Jane and I were also sharing our dorm with? Well, they did come. Lydia J. and Kitty M. (last names weren't included with introduction) were two of the silliest and boy- crazed girls you will ever find at Yale (or in the world once you actually meet them). It was a wonder how Lydia and Kitty even got into such a prestigious school like Yale…and then I remember. People say you could get most things in life with money and education, apparently, was also one of them. There were two people out there who had been deprived of going to a good school because two rich girls wanted to court hot guys, but they would be extremely disappointed when they finally realized that those "hot" guys turned out to be geeks who actually used their brains to get into this school.

Jane and I told Lydia and Kitty about the party at Neverfield Hotel, they didn't seem interested because they were already invited to another party this weekend.

I didn't really care if they went to the party or not, and I didn't even want to tell them but Jane thought that that would be the right thing to do. That was Jane for you.

For an entire day, I thought about what I wanted to wear to the party. Hey, I had time to kill and I was lazy. I didn't want to do anything productive so I just lay on the lawn, daydreaming. I figured that something sexy would be nice, but what?

The next day, I explored the newly discovered local mall with Jane to pick out something to wear. We thought that we should both get little black dresses like cocktail dresses. I finally found the black dress that I wanted to wear to the party. It was a knee-length, spaghetti-strap dress with a white sash tying the waist with a pink rose stuck on the side. I would have to say that the dress looked pretty darn good on me. Jane, on the other hand, wanted to look more "conservative" for the party (that word should not exist in the world of love).

"Jane, what is _that_?" I said, pointing to what Jane was wearing. It was a high neckline, knee-length dress with _sleeves_! I know.

"What? What's wrong with this?" she asked.

"What's wrong with _that_ is that you are going to be at a party given by a guy that is smitten with you like 'love at first sight' and you decided that the best way to woo him over is to dress like a nun."

"Lizzy!" Jane laughed, "I do not look like a nun."

"_You_ don't look like a nun, but you do in that thing. Let me find you a better dress." I looked around the store that we were in and saw the perfect thing for Jane's guy. A backless halter dress with a little glitter would surely make Charlie not want to leave Jane all night. That would be good.

"How about this?" I showed Jane who started to laugh at the sight of it.

"You want me to wear that?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Because it's slutty."

"Exactly." I went over to her and started to push her towards the dressing room. "My friend, this party, I think, will give you a very nice boyfriend. You deserve a nice guy; I mean, you have dated many stupid men in your life."

"Lizzy!" She finally gave in and went to get changed.

"What? It's true!" She eventually got the dress.

We went to a costume store next to look for a mask. Now, we assumed that it wouldn't be anything too fancy so something that a simple mask would do the trick. Jane went with something black while I wanted to wear mine white. I thought that it would be fun to put a little glitter on it, you know?

We were going to get out of the mall to go back to the dorms when we passed by a bookstore. I told Jane that I would meet her outside by the car and went into the store. There was this one book that I had been dying to read and when I saw that that book was on sale I immediately bought it and went out to meet with Jane.

So the next night was the actual party and I had a lot of fun dressing up. It had been so long since I wore a dress that it felt great. We drove up to the Neverfield Hotel, which is happily situated along a beach (it was also a resort) and it looked so nice.

"Ready?" I asked Jane as I gave the keys to the valet.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Heh, she was sweating.

We linked arms and walked through the doors and were escorted to the conference room where the party was held. It was beautiful inside the room. It was dimly lit up enough so that it was great for dances, but you could still find your way around the place. Everybody was dressed in suits and ties. Besides the dance floor which was in the middle of the room, there were also lounge chairs scattered around the room. We stood there and looked around to see if we saw anybody we knew (which was stupid because we haven't been in New Haven for that long) and somebody came up to us.

"Jane?" said the person who was obviously Charlie.

"Yes?" Jane said in her sweet little voice, wondering who had called her. She looked into his eyes (remember, they were both wearing masks) and I saw that she instantly knew who he was. "Charlie, it's so good to see you. We didn't know where to find you in this room."

"Well, here I am." Charlie joked. "Would you like to dance with me, Jane?"

"Sure, but…"Jane said, looking unsure at me.

"I'll be fine, Jane. I'll just sit in one of the lounge chairs and have a drink." I smiled.

Charlie, after hearing that, pulled Jane into the middle of the room as a slow song came on the speakers. I smiled at the happy (but clumsy) dancers, trying to make their way through the dance steps. I looked over at the food table and grabbed myself a drink. (I made sure it was a Sprite this time, mind you.) I walked over to one of the lounge chairs and pulled out my book. I couldn't get started on it because of all the freshman orientation stuff and since there wasn't a possible chance that I would be dancing tonight, why not read something? I was getting to a good part about 15 minutes later when Jane walked over to me.

"Lizzy," she said warningly, "what are you doing?"

"Reading, Jane. You should know that." I showed her the cover of the book.

"I do know that, but why are you reading here?"

"Is this a bad time to be reading something nice?"

"This is a party and you should be dancing with some guy that might become your future lover or mistress." Jane reminded.

"I don't want a boyfriend (or a mistress for that matter) right now, Jane. But I'll only dance if someone asks me. By the way, where's Charlie?"

"Oh, he went somewhere to try to persuade his friend to do something."

I made a sound to show that I understood and Jane sat down beside me. It was a minute later that we started hearing voices behind us. We didn't look to see who it was, because it would've been rude for them to know that we were eavesdropping or staring.

"Come on, do something other than standing along the walls." The voice got louder and I recognized that it was Charlie.

"Charles, I will do no such thing. I like where I am." said somebody with a slight British accent.

"You know, the point of this party was for us to meet new girls. I met someone nice and beautiful, so now it's your turn to find someone too." I looked at Jane and you can clearly see that she was blushing. I smiled.

"I have no time for relationships right now, Charles. And really, thanks to you for making this party a masquerade, you can't tell if the girls you're dancing with are beautiful or not so "the point" is useless." He sounds familiar. Where have I heard him before?

"Well, let me introduce you to someone then. I met Jane's cousin before and I would have to say that she is very pretty. Look there she is…at that lounge chair." I think he pointed to my head or something because he paused for a bit. "Why don't you ask her to dance, Will?" Did he just say Will?

"I've been watching her all night, Charles." That's kind of…stalkerish. "And there's only one word to describe her…weird." Weird? I'm not weird! I'm perfectly capable of being normal.

"Weird? Why?" Yeah, why?

"Because she spent the whole night reading a book, not dancing, Charles, reading. In my mind, that's weird and I don't wish to know such a person."

"Will, that's kind of harsh."

"Not harsh, Charles, the truth. And besides, even if I dated that girl, how am I able to bring myself to introduce her to Annie?" Who's Annie?

"You and Annie broke up, Will, remember? She threw the ring at you and you were glad that she left because you did not love her so get over trying to impress her mother on how you've moved on." This is getting really weird.

"I still feel some sense of family obligation, you know?"

"Get over it, you'll be ok. Now how about Jane's cousin?" Charlie said, sounding hopeful. Jane looked to see if I was ok and I smiled and nodded to tell her that I was fine. The only thing that was different about me was that I hated that Will guy (Is it the same Will though?) with a burning passion.

I didn't bother to listen into anymore of the conversation, so I started reading again. Charlie came over and asked if Jane would like to dance. She looked over to me with another questioning look and, after she saw my approval, she went out to the floor with Charlie. After an hour or two of talking with people who were just around, (You know, "Do you like the food at Yale" or something like that or another.) Will, (he decided to not wear a mask), came over to me and sat down. I suddenly felt like something was stabbing me in the back. I concentrated on my book, when he spoke.

"What are you reading?"

"Something I'm sure you wouldn't have any interest in." I kept my eye on the book.

He seemed taken aback but continued to talk, "I'm sure I would like to know what would keep _you_ so focus with."

"What happens if I don't want to tell you?"

"I'm not quite sure." He said, confused.

"Then I'm not going to tell you and I'm also sorry to say but I think it's time for me to go." I said, standing up as I saw Jane coming back with Charlie following her. "Can we go home now, Jane?"

Jane looked at me and then at the guy sitting next to me. "Yeah, sure" She looked back at Charlie to say her apologies when he said,

"Wait, have you girls met my best friend yet?" Jane shook her head while I just stood there. Charlie went over to Will and pulled him off the couch and said, "This is Will Darcy. Will, this is _the _Jane that I've been telling to you about." Jane pulled off her mask and shook hands with Will who looked less than pleased which really angered me in a way.

As Charlie turned to me, I stopped him.

"No need to introduce me, Charlie. I've already met Will Darcy." I softly smiled.

"But I don't think I've gotten your name though." Will sounded hopeful.

"Wanna bet?" I lowered my head so that my hair felled down and slowly took off my white mask and looked to see a speechless and stunned man.

"Now do you remember my name, Will?" I smirked but he was still without words. "Let's go Jane. Goodnight Charlie…Darcy."

And that was how the night ended, Jane and I went home and I took a hot shower and slept in the next day. It wasn't much really but I was sure that I left an impression (neither good nor bad) on the guy with the ex-fiancé.

_A/N: Hello everybody¿Como están? Good, I hope. Well, thanks to all my reviews and readers because you guys are just awesome like that! I get so happy when I get a review so you all remember to review, ok? Thanks for reading! _


	9. How Much I Reallly Hate Will Darcy

**We hate some persons because we do not know them; and we will not know them because we hate them.**

**Charles Caleb Colton**

**Chapter IX: How Much I Really Hate Will Darcy**

The weekends came and went in a quick second. Finally it was Monday, the day when school started. But classes didn't start until two more weeks. I had in my hand a list of all the classes that I would love to take. Let's see…first on the list was…biochemistry. Ok, here I go.

I walked into the classroom and who would be sitting at one of the lab stations but Mr. Will Darcy himself. He didn't see me come in so I strategically sat at one of the chairs in the back of the room. The instructor, Professor McNowski, came in and greeted the class and started to explain the course to the group of about 30.

After an hour, the class ended and I headed out for Spanish. I was almost out the door when I dropped my pencil, I bent down to get it, but someone else's hand had already gotten it before me.

"I believe this is yours." Darcy (I'm too disgusted by him to even call him by his first name) said, handing me back the pencil.

"Thanks." ungratefully said but still. I continued walking out the door and speed walked down the hall. I was making process when somehow Darcy caught up to me. Damn his long legs.

"Wait, Lizzy." he said in an out of breath voice.

"Carefu,l Darcy, I don't know you that well." I told him while giving him the death glare.

"What's with the tone?" he asked, sounding a bit confused.

"Nothing, I have to get to my next class."

Leaving him there looking more puzzled than ever before made me feel very happy in a way. You might think that I was being mean and rude but hey, he started it. I'm just playing by his rules.

Spanish went by quite interestingly enough and I thought that I could finally get some peace by meeting with Jane for lunch at the local bar, McTaylor's. Who was there with Jane but her kind suitor Charlie and inevitably…Darcy. How come when I see one friend, I always seem to find the other friend somewhere near?

"Jane? I didn't know we were suppose to bring company."

"Sorry, Lizzy but I asked Jane if I could come with you girls. I hope you don't mind?" Charlie said in his best convincing voice.

"I don't mind." I sat myself down in one of the couches in front of Darcy.

"How has your day been, Lizzy?" Jane asked as she sipped her soda.

I took a drink out of my coffee that I was already holding and said, "Oh you know, biochem sounds fun and Spanish has always been a pleasure for me, so I guess the day has been well. How was your Russian and trig class?"

"Good and you know? Charlie takes Russian too!" It was fate that those two should be together, I tell you.Fate!. They were even taking the same language class! "And I am kind of forced to take trig. So, the day could have been better." She smiled.

We talked about random stuff for a couple minutes and it was a lot of fun, but the whole time, Darcy did not say one word.

"You know, it would be nice if you would at least say something?" I said, looking over to him.

"I'm not talking because I don't like expressing what I think." He said with a straight face on.

"That has never stopped you before, why now?" I added with a little bit of sarcasm.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"If you don't know, what's the point of me telling you?"

"What's with you and the attitude?" What's with him and his questions?

"I don't know myself but I think it has something to do with you."

"I have never done anything wrong to you." Was he joking? I could think of a lot of things that he had done wrong.

"Lizzy, don't fight." Jane said, trying to calm me down but Darcy had pushed the button and he was going to get what he deserved.

"'Never done anything wrong'? Are you kidding me? First, you kiss me at my Aunt's party. You left without saying a word. Then I find out that you were engaged with another person. You insulted me behind my back at Charlie's party, calling me 'weird' and not 'wishing to know such a person'. And to top it off, you had the nerve to try to hit on me? What kind of brainless jerk are you?" Ahh…that was good to get off my chest.

"I didn't know that was you sitting there." Darcy made a measly attempt to try to defend himself. Pathetic.

"Whether or not that was me or some other girl, you still would've said it all the same. "

"Well, I'm sorry, but it was because of you that my entire family is disappointed in me." He said in a hushed voice. What the hell was seriously wrong with this guy?

I was so mad that I took Jane's soda and threw the drink in Darcy's face. "So you're blaming me for something you've done? Well, guess what? Apology NOT accepted!" I walked out of the bar.

"Wait, Lizzy!" Jane shouted, running after me. "Calm down, don't get so worked up over Will."

"I'm not getting worked up over him, Jane. It's just that that guy pisses me off. 'Never done anything wrong' and he seems like such a smart guy. How can he be such a moron?"

"Men never want to be wrong, you know that."

I suddenly stopped, realizing that I forgot my bag. I walked back to the bar with Jane and saw Charlie and Darcy still sitting there on the couches.

"Really, Will, you were out of line there." Charlie said, handing Darcy a napkin to wipe the soda off his face and sweater. Charlie looked up and immediately saw me standing behind Darcy. He kept looking at me but Darcy seemed oblivious to his surroundings.

"No, I wasn't, Charles. _She_ was out of line. She was rude and inconsiderate for my situation. And to say the least, she was quite selfish in making this whole problem about her." He said some more things about how I was such a bad person and that my parents might not have taught me my manners or about society for that matter. Was this the right time to tell you that I really and truly hated this guy with a burning passion?

"Wow, you have a real habit about talking about other people behind their backs, don't you?" I grabbed my purse and was about to leave.

"Well, it's the truth, isn't it? You are selfish and rude." he said raising his voice and that just ticked me off even more.

"Oh, you can be such an ass!"

"And you can be such a bitch!"

Slapping him gave me the sweetest feeling ever and I wished I could do it again but I knew that would be wrong, so I just walked out of the bar again. This time, nobody ran after me. The rest of the day was spent with Jane trying her best to reason with me that Will Darcy was really a nice guy if I got to know him better. I don't think getting to know him better would be on my list anytime soon.

_A/N: Hello! I hope you like this chapter! Thanks to all my reviewers and readers! I got new reviewers and I was so happy! Next chapter will come tomorrow and I hope that you will review for this one. Thanks for reading!_


	10. Unexpected Meetings Being Awkward

**Having a holiday weekend without a family member felt like putting on a sweater that had an extra arm.**

**Pamela Ribon**

**Chapter X: Unexpected Meetings Being Awkward**

To say that I never wanted to see Darcy again would be an understatement but that was impossible. Now that Jane and Charlie seem to be attached by the hip, it was really hard to not find Darcy near whenever I did anything with Jane and Charlie. Even though Darcy is two years ahead of me, he manages to be in a lot of my classes. It's so strange and that just makes classes even worst because my professors really like to pair me up with him. He would sometimes get off track whenever we're doing something in class together but I would always set him straight.

"I'm not in a position to talk to you about my preferences Darcy."

"But I just asked you what your favorite foods were."

"And we're mixing harmful chemicals into a heated beaker, that why I'm really not in a position to tell you what my favorite foods are. I wouldn't tell you anyway."

Just like the moron that he is, Darcy kept on asking questions and one thing lead to another and I think that I kind of got distracted and put the wrong chemical into the beaker and a big explosion erupted. Good thing we were wearing protective clothing and eye goggles then but I was still furious with Darcy.

When Thanksgiving came around, I felt that I wanted to do something other than go home. Besides, my parents were going to visit my grandparents in California, so I didn't have anybody to come home to anyway.

"What should we do for Thanksgiving, Jane?" I asked Jane as she brought me a cup of coffee.

"Well, Charlie has to go to his parents so we could probably do something together. I was thinking about helping at a homeless shelter or something. What do you think?"

"That sounds great."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

On Thanksgiving Day, Jane and I went down to the local homeless shelter, expecting to help out a lot, but when we arrived we found the shelter to be packed. We asked the person in charged of the place if there was anything we could help out with.

"Sorry, we don't need any more help."

"But we're volunteers, we're unpaid help, can you have enough unpaid help?" I said.

"Yes, you can when it's the biggest volunteer holiday of the year."

We turned around, ready to leave to find another shelter, when a voice behind us made us looked back.

"Darcy, what are you doing here?" Jane asked.

"Just doing God's work."

"But you're the devil." I said in an outcry.

"Very funny"

"I'm serious."

He smiled in a sarcastic way. After a lot of small talk between Jane and Darcy, we left.

We eventually found ourselves at a hospital helping out. We had a lot of fun and by the end of the day we were wiped out. I wanted to go to a bar and just hang out and relax.

"Let's go to McTaylor's." Jane suggested.

"No, I want to try some place new. We go there every week and Darcy is always there every time we come. I've had my share of seeing him today so let's go some place else."

"Well, somebody told me about this bar called Toad's that's about two blocks away."

"Then we'll go there."

We were just relaxing away, talking at Toad's for about ten minutes when in come the one person I didn't want to see.

"Hello, ladies."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Can't a guy come into a bar without being attacked?"

"She means why aren't you at McTaylor's" Jane explained.

"I wanted change of scenery and I had a gut feeling that you…" he said looking at me "would be at McTaylor's, so I chose to come here."

"You shouldn't trust your gut feeling anymore. It's doing me no good." I said. I was about to tell him off when Jane went and said something that I would never say myself.

"Would you like to join us?" she asked.

"Sure." Darcy said sitting down next to us.

The night went by horribly. There were a lot of small talk and a lot of awkward silences but we got back to Yale in one piece. We bid each other goodnight (mostly Jane and Darcy) and we went our separate ways, Darcy went back to Berkeley and Jane and I went back to Davenport.

"Why did you ask Darcy to stay at the bar?" I asked Jane.

"You guys need to learn how to get along."

"Not happening anytime soon, Jane."

"Oh dear, can't we live in peace?"

"Don't worry; I'll make sure that you're not there when I kill him."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I didn't see Darcy for the rest of the break. Then school started again and I was back to being his lab partner.

"What are you doing for winter break?" he asked two weeks later in biochem.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Just asking…don't you want to know what I'm going to do?" he said after a small pause.

"If I don't ask, please Darcy, don't tell me."

"Fine" he said. For five whole minutes, Darcy looked at me in a way that I wanted to wring his neck for. It was one of those looks that had that weird smirk and it said to you that he knew something that you didn't know.

"Alright, I'll tell you. I'm staying here because my parents are going to South America for Christmas. Happy now?"

"Yes." again with the weird smirk!

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Lizzy, Charlie asked if you would spend Christmas with us at his parent's house at the Hamptons." Jane said to me one night.

"I don't know. I wouldn't want to intrude on anything that you guys have planned."

"It'll be nothing like that; Charlie has to look after his sister and the house while his parents are away, so he could use some company."

"It does sound fun."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yeah."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Two weeks later, we were both standing on the sidewalk, packed up and ready to leave, when Charlie's car came around. I saw that there was somebody in the car other than Charlie and instantly knew who it was.

"Jane?" I said in a warning tone.

She didn't say anything but quickly ran to the trunk of the car, put her bags in and ran to the front seat.

"Sorry, Lizzy, you'll have to sit in the back then." Her face really did look apologetic but it was nonsense right now. I analyzed my situation and wonder if I shouldn't go, but then I saw Darcy take a look at me and I decided that I should go just to piss him off. Ohh…that would be wonderful.

"Damn, the voodoo thing didn't work. You're still here." I whispered to myself but loud enough for everyone to hear as I climbed into the back seat.

"Glad to see you're still alive, Lizzy." Darcy said with a pompous smirk.

"Can't really say the same thing for you, Darcy. And don't call me Lizzy."

"Everybody calls you 'Lizzy'."

"Everybody is welcome to call me 'Lizzy', everybody except for you, of course. What are you doing here anyway? "

"I was about to say the same thing to you."

We both turned to look at Jane and Charlie and they both had guilty faces. So guilty in fact, that without being asked, they started telling us what happened.

Apparently, Jane and Charlie both knew that Darcy was going to spend Christmas with Charlie and they wanted Darcy and me to be at truce with each other, so they invited me along as well.

"Well, since I'm going to be stuck in this car for two hours, I think that we should set some rules." I said to Darcy after Jane finished explaining. "Stay as far away from my side of the car as possible, got it? There's a line, I've drawn a line. Don't cross it."

"Is this line invisible, or do I need to get you a marker?"

"You'll know when you've crossed it." I made myself comfortable with my CD player and turned up the volume.

Of course, two hours later, we were there. We each unloaded the bags and walked up to Charlie's _very _big house (more like a mansion if you asked me).

Charlie unlocked the giant oak doors and called out, "Caroline, I'm home! Caroline?"

"Charlie, stop with the yelling. It's giving me a headache!" The girl who said that was one of the most anorexic girls you could find in any fashion magazine. It was quite funny actually. Caroline, I presumed, was one of those girls who had a little too much fun with Daddy's credit cards and had developed a habit for expensive things. Being in a mansion with two people attached by the hip, the pompous ass that I hate, and a girl who might be too brainless to say anything sensible was going to be fun, right? Heh. Right.

_A/N: Hello everybody! We have reached the 10th chapter. YAY! Well, the updates will be slowing down after this because I would actually have to write the next chapters. It'll probably take me like three to four days so I now apologize in advance. How do you like the story so far? I would appreciate if you would give me some suggestions about what should happen next. I would like to thank **Yalie** for giving all those great info about Yale. Thanks to all my reviewers and readers and keep on reviewing! Thanks for reading! _

_P.S. I hope that it was ok that I kind of borrowed that scene of the volunteers at Thanksgiving from how I met you mother and that line about the 'line being invisible' from Grey's Anatomy. I guess that would be my disclaimer. Thanks again for reading._


	11. What Everyone Looks For

**A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies. Oscar Wilde  
**

**Chapter XI: What Everyone Looks For**

Caroline walked over to Jane and hugged her, giving her a formal peck on the cheek.

"You must be sweet Jane that Charlie never stops talking about!" she exclaimed.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Caroline. Your brother talks a lot about you also." Really, Charlie doesn't talk a lot about his sister. Why do people insist on lying when it comes to these situations?

"And you are?" Caroline turned to me and rudely said.

"Elizabeth Bennet" I held out my hand "Jane's cousin and roommate at Yale."

Our handshake would probably be the shortest handshake ever, Caroline touched my hand and immediately pulled back. She then walked to Darcy, who was like three times her size (and a lot taller), and she had to jump just to wrap her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry. Darcy never told me that he had a girlfriend." I said. That's becoming a problem, isn't it?

"Oh no…Caroline isn't my girlfriend." Darcy immediately rejected the idea.

But there was something in Caroline's expression that says that that would not keep her from trying. Charlie then went and showed us our rooms. The rooms were absolutely wonderful! It was what you would think a room would be like in a castle or something. I mean, the room even had a freaking fireplace! I marveled at the size of the room.

"You seem to look so surprised at your room, Miss Bennet." Caroline said.

"It's just…big. Our dorm room is a little cramped." I explained.

"Mother would never allow Charlie to share a room with another person." I could detect a little bit of snobbishness in her voice.

"Well, I don't really regret having roommates. It's fun."

"I heard from Charlie that your parents own a bakery." Caroline said, while we walked to tour the house. (We were currently in one of the main bathrooms.)

"Yeah, it's _The Serendipity Bakery _and it's in New York City."

"How…quaint." Quaint? Who uses that word anymore?

"Yes, it's a very quaint place indeed." Apparently I do.

We all settled down in the living room and our conversation continued.

"You must be really smart, Miss Bennet." She said.

"Please Caroline, it's Lizzy."

"She gets to call you by your first name and I don't?" Darcy said in astonishment.

"Yes, now you were saying, Caroline?"

"You must be very smart, Lizzy."

"Why is that?"

"Well, I would assume that you paid for Yale through a lot of scholarships." What was she trying to say?

"Yeah, but that's only because I didn't let my parents pay for them."

"Oh." That was all Caroline said about the subject because then Charlie asked if anybody would like some hot chocolate. I wondered what Caroline really meant by this conversation.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

The Hamptons was really a fun place to spend time at. It was snowing and watching the Christmas trees outside with its lights…it was just so beautiful. Of course, the snow does bring in another fun activity, snow ball fight!

"What's proper?" I asked. Everybody was sitting down in the living room watching CNN. Jane was with Charlie (of course) and Caroline was seductively close to Darcy (creepy, I know). I was just lying on my back on the couch, alone.

"Something that is right?" Darcy said.

"Then what is right?"

"Why, Lizzy?" Jane finally asked after a short awkward pause.

"Well, it's snowing and we're in the Hamptons."

"So?" Caroline said, quite snobbishly, I think.

"What's the chance of us having a snow ball fight without getting yelled at by neighbors?"

Everybody looked at each other for a moment when Charlie and I both got up and started running towards the stairs to our rooms to put on our coats.

"Last one out is a loser!"

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"I don't feel so good, Jane." I said, wrapping myself in bundles of blankets.

"There, there, I told you to put something warmer than just that coat but you didn't listen. Did you?" Jane handed me a bowl of chicken soup.

I moaned and shook my head. The snow ball fight was good but everyone involved seem to have gotten sick hours later. Even Darcy can be heard sneezing down the hallway. You wouldn't think that Darcy would be the guy to throw snow at others and that was right but because he was standing there, I threw a snow ball at him just for fun. Who would think that he would get sick so fast? Heh.

"Will! You're sick! You shouldn't be out of bed!" You can hear Caroline screaming down the hallway. You wouldn't want your future husband to die before you marry him and get his fortune, right? Understandable in this situation, I guess.

"Really, Caroline, I'm fine. I just want to finish writing this letter to my sister, so could you leave for a few minutes?" He's practically begging her to leave. I walked down to the office just to see how Caroline was going to handle the situation.

"Oh! You're writing a letter to Anna? How I miss her! Could you tell her that I said hello and that I miss her? Could you tell her that I want her to practice her piano everyday so that I could hear her play when I visit next summer?" Caroline was way too hyper for these kinds of things. She was so loud that Charlie had to come up in a bundle of blanket just to see if everything was ok.

"Trust me, Caroline, I wrote everything you just said in the letter. And I can assure that _Anne_ is practicing everyday so you will able to hear her when you visit." He seemed irritated by her.

"Good, Anna plays so well and so beautifully and has such a good brother, no wonder Anna is so talented." Sucking up to Darcy must be very hard.

"I can assure you that _Anne_ is talented because she works very hard at playing the piano, not because I'm her brother."

"Girls are so talented these days," Charlie piped in. "so accomplished. They speak more than one language, they're great dancers, and they're charming and funny."

"That's where you're wrong, Charles. I wouldn't say that that would make an accomplished woman. I would have to say that I've met only half a dozen women whom I see as being truly accomplished." He was still able to write his letter while he said that.

"That's right." Caroline agreed. I swear that girl would agree to anything that Darcy says. It's quite sad really. "For a woman to be really accomplished, she must have been excellent in her education. She must be well acquainted with music by playing an instrument. She's polite and beautiful. But most importantly, to be truly accomplished, the woman must have an air about her, a glitter in her eyes and a sparkle when she smiles."

"And to all that, a woman must also make herself knowledgeable by extensive reading and knowing what's happening in the world around her." Darcy finished.

I laughed out loud, how can someone be so unbelievably ignorant about life like that?

"What's so funny, Miss Bennet?" Miss Bennet? I kind of liked that, after days of telling him to stop calling me Lizzy, he finally listened.

"I wondered how was it that you only know six accomplished women? Now I'm surprised that you even know any."

"Are you trying to degrade everyone, even your own gender, Lizzy?" Caroline said.

"That's not what I'm trying to do. It's just that when you have criteria like that, it just makes me think…who is good enough? If you ever tell any girl that that is what you're looking for in a woman, she starts to have doubts about herself and her self-esteem just goes down the drain, doesn't it?"

"Wouldn't something like a man's list make women work harder on becoming better?" Darcy asked.

"A man's list? Is that what you call it? I don't know about working harder on becoming better, but I do know that men have known the women's list for what they look for in a man for centuries yet men has never gone out of their way to change, then why should women change for the sake of men?"

"So, what do girls look for in a guy?" Charlie asked.

"There's a whole list or rather a set of rules, but I don't know if you want to hear it or not?"

"You would still tell us though, wouldn't you?" Darcy said.

"You're getting to know me better, Darcy. Ok then…1) He must be self-motivated.

2) He should love reading.

3) He should have an opinion for everything.

4) He must be eye pleasing.

5) He must have a good attitude towards life.

6) He must be lovable.

7) He must be sensual.

8) He should be sensitive and kind.

9) He must not be a burden to anyone and everyone.

Finally, 10) He must know how to make a good first impression." That really was the list that Jane and I thought up when we were in elementary school. It doesn't apply to everybody but to me, it was really set in stone.

"But if all else fails and I still have fallen in love with him…I go for it. You don't need a list to tell you who to love." I finished.

"That's a complicated list." Caroline said.

"I think it's pretty simple. It's something that anyone can fulfill." I said.

Darcy seemed like he agreed but didn't say anything. There was an awkward pause when Charlie said that he was hungry so pizza was ordered. The rest of the night was relatively peaceful enough. Jane baked brownies and Scrabble was taken out of the closet. Christmaswas in three days and I still haven't gone shopping. I should probably do that tomorrow.

_A/N: Hello! I hope this wasn't too long of a wait. (I hope not then I would really be screwed on getting this out fast enough. Hehe) You asked for Darcy to get to know Lizzy a little better, this is good. He got to know her better (only if a little). Question of the day: Should I have a Wickham character in the story? _

_Thanks to all my reviewers and readers! I apologize if you got confused about whether or not Jane was the person who invited Lizzy to the Hampton. For some reason, the break in the story that I put in there didn't show up. Sorry. Thanks for reading! _


	12. Skating on Christmas

**When you are courting a nice girl an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity.**

**Albert Einstein**

**Chapter XII: Skating on Christmas**

Christmas was now upon us and gift giving was the main activity for the day. I woke up pretty early that day and had nothing to do because everyone else was still asleep. I went downstairs to find Jane in the kitchen. She wanted to make breakfast for everyone, so I decided to help.

"Everything looks so good, Jane." Caroline said. To everyone, she looked like she was very happy and polite, but I thought I heard a hint of displeasure in her tone. Maybe I might have a hearing problem.

Everyone else agreed and sat down for brunch.

"What are we doing today, Charlie?" I asked.

"I don't know. What do you guys want to do?" he asked everybody.

"Let's go ice skating." Jane suggested shyly.

I quickly agreed with her. Caroline said that she would go because it would give her the chance of showing off her "great skating grace". For some reason, I couldn't picture that in my mind.

"I think I'll stay home, Charles." Darcy said.

"Why? Come on, Will, it'll be great fun." Caroline whined. For once, I actually agreed with her.

"No, no, I think I'll stay home and read a book."

"Are you saying that you can't skate, Darcy?" I said with a smirk.

"That's not what I'm saying." He blushed.

"But can you?"

"Can I what?"

"Can you skate?"

"Of course I can, I roller skate lots of time."

"But can you ice skate? There's a difference between the two."

There was a pause between the two of us when I said, "Come skate with us, Darcy. You're a smart guy, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time."

Darcy's blood pressure seemed to rise but he kept calm and didn't say anything.

"I'll take that as a yes? Good, that settles it. We will go skating at 6 o'clock." I stood up and took my dish to the sink.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"You not going to fall on me again, are you?" I asked as I once again, for the fifth time, helped Darcy up from the ice. We had not been at the ice rink for half an hour that Darcy was falling down so bad that it was almost pathetic to watch and Caroline was complaining how the cold was "having a bad effect on her skin". Good thing she went and sat down because I couldn't deal another minute with her.

"I think I'm fine, Ms. Bennet." He said, sounding very ungrateful.

"Ok, suit yourself." So I left him. I started to skate counterclockwise around the rink with the other skaters. I passed by Jane and Charlie who were hand-in-hand skating peacefully, having fun. I finished a lap around the rink and saw that Darcy was still at the same spot where I had left him.

"Stuck in quicksand, Darcy?" I said, laughing while skating circles around him.

"No." he said, feeling a little frustrated.

"Your pride will be your downfall one day, Darcy. "

"If that's how it is, so be it. Besides, I am not proud."

I almost snorted while still skating around him. "Are you kidding? You? Not proud? Quite hard to believe really. If you don't offend girls by being proud, then how are you still ever single?"

"I'm not single because I offend girls."

"Ah huh."

"I'm just shy and they see that I won't make a move on them, so they don't even try to talk to me."

"Should you really be using the word 'move' if you're shy? How would I know if you ever made a 'move' on anyone?"

"You're funny, Miss Bennet. I have made moves on girls lots of time. It's not like I've never dated before."

"I'm not saying that you've never dated before, though I have doubted that thought several times, but to say that guys shouldn't have to make the first move is very wrong."

Darcy tried his hardest to skate toward the wall but failed painfully and fell to the ice. I kept on snickering and helped him up and proceeded to push him toward the wall. While holding onto the wall and trying to skate, he said,

"Why is it a bad thing for girls to make the first move?"

"Every girl has weaknesses and is always insecure to be sure and the one thing that they fear the most is being rejected. So when a girl tries to flirt with someone, what if the guy finds her repulsive? Then what? A man needs to assure a woman that she is attractive and shouldn't be shy."

"Have you ever thought that men might have those thoughts too?"

"I'm sure they do but men take rejections very well, do they not?"

"That doesn't prove why men should always make the first move."

"So, have you ever made the first move on somebody?" I said, trying to change the subject. I once had a friend that said that women are more emotionally unstable. I guess that would be true on many levels but men seem so strong that you would hardly think that they have any faults.

"You."

"What?" I hope he was _not _saying that he made a move on me.

"I made the first move when we were at your aunt's party." I wish he would stop sounding so hopeful.

"And look where that landed you. Besides, you didn't make the first move because you were taken then, thus the move was not valid."

"You're kidding, right? I kissed you; you don't count that as a move? That kiss has got to mean something?"

"It doesn't. I took it as any other kiss and never thought about it after the ring was thrown in your face."

"You saw that?" Darcy said, looking down.

"Yeah, I did. But that was in the past now and I deem it like it never happened."

"But it did happen."

"And did anything good happen because of it? No, so nothing would change if we both could just forget about it."

"So, does that mean that we could start over?" There he goes again with the sounding hopeful.

"Are you going to woo me over or something?" I joked as I kept on pushing Darcy toward the middle of the rink.

"Well, I was hoping if you would like to go to dinner with me."

"No."

Darcy seemed shock about the quick reply and seemed very confused which was comfusing because he didn't understand why I wouldn't want to have dinner with him.

"Why?"

"Because first impressions are very important to me, Darcy and that ship has already sailed for you."

"But if the whole thing at the party never happened, then I never left that bad impression on you. So that means that I get another chance, right?"

"You like to word things up, don't you?"

"So, would you have dinner with me?"

"Maybe not"

"So that's a maybe?"

"No, that's a maybe not. Ask me another time, Darcy, then I'll think about." I only just got off the skating rink when Caroline started complaining again. Nobody could deal with it any longer, so we all went home.

When we got home, it was time to open presents. It might sound like it was a little late to be opening Christmas presents but it didn't matter, right?

"This is beautiful. Thanks, Charlie." Jane said as Charlie secured he charm bracelet onto Jane's wrist. They kissed and it was picture perfect.

Caroline was the next person to open her presents. She got several CDs and DVDs. She seemed to love it but I guess that after all the years of buying expensive things, CDs and DVDs can't get any cheaper.

Darcy was next. Yes, I got him a gift. After all, I've know him for about six months now, so he deserves a little something for Christmas. I had to think hard about his present. I mean, what do you get for the guy that you have never thought in a million years to getting along with? A sweater…that's what you get him. A nice one like cashmere, I thought it was cute. Of course, it didn't beat Caroline's Rolex but still.

"This is one present that I never thought I would get, Miss Bennet." Darcy said, looking at me as we all sat around the tree.

"Why is that?"

"I just thought that you would never get me anything."

"Well, as long as you got me something, all will be well." Yes, I'm sly like that.

"Umm…" I did not spend $150 for a person who didn't get me anything back.

"Does that mean that you didn't get anything for me?"

"Actually, I had a gut feeling that you weren't as bad as I thought you would be so…" He pulled out a velvet rectangular box and opened it to reveal a thin silver necklace with a lavender pendent hanging from the chain, "…I got this for you."

"I take it back. You should trust your gut feelings more often. It is doing me good." I smiled as I put it around my neck. For some reason, Caroline was a bit more sarcastic that night. I might say they were feelings of jealousy but I could assure Caroline now that nothing will ever happen between Darcy and I. But life was ironic like that so you would never know.

_A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks to all of you for reviewing. We're really close to getting to 50 reviews and I am so happy! I thank you so much for thinking that the story is good. I liked this story because I wrote this around the same time as when I first learn how to ice skate a couple of weeks later. (I fell HARD a lot just like Darcy.) Ok, question of the day: how should I introduce a Mr. Collins into the story? Do you guys even want a Mr. Collins? _

_Thanks for reading! (I think I write that for almost every single chapter.)_


	13. Frances Collins

**The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.**

**Elizabeth Taylor**

**Chapter XIII: Frances Collins**

At the end of January, my parents called me to come home one weekend to have dinner with a family acquaintance.

"Who is this again?" I asked for the sixth time. I was really confused, I had never heard of Frances Collins before in my life.

"His name is Frances Collins and his father, Arthur, was your dad's best friend and also shareholder of our bakery." Mom said, obviously worried, fidgeting around with the throw pillows and cleaning.

"And we're having dinner with only him, why?"

"His father died a couple of months ago and he inherited the bakery's share."

"Are we in trouble?"

"No, but it's still good that you get on his good side, Lizzy. He's a lawyer and you know how tricky they can get."

"I'll behave then."

So that night, I made it an effort to look nice and formal.

"What do you know about this guy?" I asked my dad as we were sitting in the living room waiting for him to come.

"I have never met him in my life but I have seen him at his father's funeral. I have no idea what he would be like."

We waited a few more minutes and after about ten minutes the doorbell ranged throughout the house.

I got up and went to the door and opened to look at a man that was neither handsome nor ugly. Frances, I assume, was an ordinary looking man and he seemed like he had nothing to offer to the world. I wouldl just have to see what about this man that would actually make him special.

"Hi, you must be Frances?"

"Yes," he said as I lead him to the living room. "Very nice to meet you."

After the formal greeting, we all sat down for dinner.

"So, Frances, I hear that you're a lawyer." I asked as we went though the salads.

"Yes, and it was my esteemed aunt, Catherine de Bough, who got me this wonderful job at her firm. She's the CEO of the De Bough Law Firm, you know." I shook my head. I didn't know and I don't think that I would care. And the rest of the evening was spent with Collins (I don't like the name Frances) talking about his great aunt Catherine de Bough. I swear that he should choke on a carrot on the first mention of his aunt. It was so annoying!

When Collins finally went home, I only found out that he was thirty, and that he went to Harvard and now he resided in Maine near his "great Aunt Catherine". Oh yeah, he also talked about how it was about time that he married someone and when he said that, he looked at me. I know…it gave me a shiver too.

Two weeks later, it was Valentine's Day and Jane and Charlie were planning this big date (mostly Charlie though) and they just left the house. I was alone for the first time for Valentine's Day in years. Surprisingly, I wasn't the least sad. I liked my new found freedom. It was cool.

_RINGGGG…RINGGGG…_

"Hello?" I put the machine on speakerphone.

"Lizzy, dear, it's your mom."

"Hi, mom."

"Are you free today, dear?"

"Yeah, why?"

"This may sound last minute…but I need you to give Frances Collins a tour of Yale today." Mom said hurriedly.

"What? What are you talking about?" I was in shock. Spending a day with Collins? I would never have it.

"Well, this is a little last minute, but Frances said that he was going to be in New Haven for a few days and that he wanted you to give him a tour. I accidentally said yes and forgot to tell you about it."

"Mom, when you promise something for me, it would be best if you tell me a few days in advance so I would be able to decline."

"But honey…" she didn't quite get to finish her sentence because there was a loud knock on the door then and I excused myself to Mom and promised to call her back.

I walked to the door, wondering who it could be at nine in the morning. When I opened the door, it suddenly dawned on me (the reason why Mom called), Collins was at the door.

"Mr. Collins..." Really, this guy was about twelve years older than I was so it would be justified if I just call him Mr. Collins.

"Lizzy!" he came into the dorm (how'd he get into the building?) and squeezed me in a big hug like how your uncle would hug you shamelessly.

"So, you're ready to give me a tour of this grand university of yours."

I grabbed my bag and headed out the building with Collins trailing behind. The really annoying thing about giving a tour of my favorite college with Collins was that he wouldn't stop comparing it with his own university. And he also wouldn't stop declaring which part of the building was funded and donated by his aunt. I wanted to slap him senseless but good thing Darcy was there to get me out of this situation.

"Hey, Miss Bennet, I see you're spending your time wisely on this beautiful day." He said to me in the library with Collins in awe next to me.

"Your sarcasm is not up to date to mine, Darcy, you're falling short."

"Ummm…" Collins squeaked next to me. What was up with him?

"Darcy, this is a family friend of my…family, Frances Collins." I introduced.

"Actually, we're related, Lizzy. Darcy and I, I mean."

"What?" Darcy and I said in unison.

"We're related. My uncle's wife is Catherine de Bourgh who is also your mother's sister, I believe." Oh my freaking god! How small could this world get?

"Then I guess we're related." Darcy didn't seem too impress and I wouldn't be either.

We talked for a few more minutes (more like a whole conversation with Collins and no one) and then we went to explore more of the campus. After all, Yale was a truly big campus. Around five, the three of went to Toad's to have something to eat.

"Sorry that I won't be able to make it. I'm afraid that I must get back to the hotel and get ready to go back to dear Maine." YES! YES! YES! He was going away!

"Too bad."

"I will miss you, Lizzy" He said as he bent down to kiss my hand. (What the hell was that for?) Darcy looked like he was going to start rolling on the floor, laughing. Collins then left the premise and I was overjoyed.

"I like your new boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend, Darcy. Be quiet." I slapped his arm. "And knowing that he's related to you, doesn't really make this matter any better."

"My family isn't all that bad, you know. You've surely heard me talk about my sister."

"And Caroline makes her out to be such a sweetheart, but coming from her, anything connected to you is such a sweetheart. I have nothing but your words to work with."

"You'll meet Anne one of these days, but for now, how about spending the rest of the day with me?"

"What?"

"It's Valentine's and you obviously won't be doing anything else today. So, why not spend it with me?"

"What makes you think I have nothing to do?"

"Do you?"

"Yes." I lied.

"What?" Darcy asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Uh…reading?"

"Uh…huh, well, to heck with reading." He said, grabbing and dragging my arm toward Toad's. "You're going to have dinner with me." For some reason, I couldn't say no.

_A/N: Hello readers! I know that this took longer than I expected for me to update but I was trying to rack my brain as to how I was going to introduced Mr. Collins to you guys. I know that having Collins be related to Darcy might be strange but I thought that it would creepy for Lizzy to be proposed by her second cousin, you know? The next chapter will be about the rest of Valentine's Day and I need some suggestions as to what should happen. Anything would be great and helpful. Now question of the day: When should I have Lizzy meet Catherine de Bourgh? I mean, I'm not going to have Monica marry Collins because she deserves love, don't you think? So when should Catherine de Bourgh come in? Thanks to all of my reviewers and I appreciate it so much that you have helped me reach 50 reviews! YAY! Thanks a lot! I hope you like this chapter but I would understand if you don't because I feel a little edgy about this one too. Thanks to all my reviewers and for all of you who read in general! (I mixed it up for you.)_


	14. Valentine's Day Dinner

**At a dinner party one should eat wisely but not too well, and talk well but not too wisely.**

**W. Somerset Maugham**

**Chapter XIV: Valentine's Day Dinner**

We walked (me being dragged behind) into the bar and we sat at one of the tables.

"I thought you were taking me out for dinner?" I asked as I looked around the place to see if there were any familiar faces.

"I am." He said, casually cruising through the menu.

"I see." I said, finally picking up my menu too.

I looked through the thing and saw that there seemed to be a huge spaghetti plate on the special's menu. I got up to go to the counter to order my food but Darcy stopped me.

"What are you doing?"

"Ordering my dinner."

"We're not eating here."

"Then what in the world are we doing here?"

"Having a drink here and waiting until our 6 'o clock reservation." He said matter-of-factly.

"Were you planning to eat by yourself today?" I asked with a half smirk and half questioning smile on my face.

"No, because I knew that you were going to have dinner with me."

"You're being overly confident again, aren't you?"

"There is nothing wrong with having self-confidence, Miss Bennet."

"Nothing wrong with confidence, but you shouldn't let it turn to conceit."

"I had faith that you will, one day, agree to go out with me."

"I'll give you an advanced answer to that…no. I will never ever never go out with you, Darcy."

"But look at me," he said. "How would you feel if you couldn't go out with_ me_?"

"Get over yourself already, Darcy. No matter how good-looking you are, I still won't go out with you."

"I never said anything about me being good-looking, you just called me good-looking." I could definitely see that weird smirk creeping up again.

"That's it. I guess you can eat alone then." I said. (I was being sarcastic but still…)

"Wait," he got up and walked to me." Come on, I was just kidding. You can take a joke, can't you?"

"I can so take a joke, Darcy. Don't think that I can't."

"Alright, then let's go have dinner."

"Tell me where we're eating so I can be sure of what to expect. I mean, I don't think I can expect anything too surprising from you, can I?"

"It's just a nice French restaurant, that's all."

French restaurant… I was wearing bright blue cotton sweats.

"I should probably go change, shouldn't I?"

"Umm…" For a sophisticated man like Darcy, asking him if what I was wearing was too informal seemed to be too hard of a question for him to answer. I looked down at my watch and saw that I still had about forty five more minutes until the reservation at six. So I told Darcy that I needed to run back to Yale and changed and that he could pick me up in twenty minutes. I speed walked home (more like ran) and opened the door with my keys to find Jane and Charlie making out on the couch.

"Oh my gosh!" I said as I stupidly covered my eyes. The couple scrambled to fix their hair and straightened out their clothes as I apologized and walked into my room.

I was looking at my closet to see what I could wear when Jane walked in. The door closing as Charlie left could be heard.

"Charlie didn't have to go. I'm just here to find some clothes."

"He's coming back later. Where did you go? We came home and thought that you would be here." She asked, walking from the doorway to her bed and sat down.

"I had to give Collins a tour of campus today and one thing lead to another and now I'm having dinner with Darcy tonight." I said, flipping through the many pairs of jeans that is my wardrobe. (My motto: You can never have enough pairs of jeans. )

"Glad to see that you two are getting along, Lizzy." she smiled sweetly.

"We might be getting along," I admitted. "But nothing more. Don't try that matchmaking stuff that you've been obsessing over the past couple of years."

"Alright, but it wouldn't hurt to give the guy a chance. Charlie tells me Darcy is really interested in you."

"But _I'm_ not interested in him, Jane. I don't want a boyfriend right now. I have more important things on my mind." I said, holding up an orange dress up to my body. Jane shook her head and went to her part of the closet and pulled out one of her sexier dresses and held it up to me and nodded.

"If you and John hadn't broken up, then you would've broken up with him anyways because you have more important things than love."

"#1 rule of becoming my perfect man is making a very good impression, Jane."

"That list is a little old, don't you think?"

"But it works, doesn't it?" I said, while putting on the dress to see Jane's complete approval of when I finally had it on. It was a spaghetti strapped red dress that came down to my knees. It did look pretty on me and Jane hurriedly rushed over to our dresser and pulled out the necklace with the purple pendant that Darcy had given me for Christmas.

"Add a little blush, mascara, and lip gloss and you're ready to go." Jane said, taking out her make-up bag out of the drawer.

"No mascara please, I've never liked those." So in five minutes, I was ready and I strapped on some red heels and walked into the living room to find Darcy already there. (I guess Charlie didn't lock the door, but doesn't Darcy know how to knock?)

"Wow, you really can do wonders in twenty minutes."

"You should be happy that I actually went this far for you. Normally, I would just put on a blouse and skirt."

"I guess I'm the lucky guy tonight to know that I am taking the beautiful, outspoken Miss Bennet to dinner."

"Well, you wouldn't want us to be late now, would you?" I said, grabbing my purse and saying goodbye to Jane and told her not to have Charlie sleeping here tonight.

"I would never do anything like that, Lizzy!" Jane said in hysteria.

"Right."

PPPPPPPPPPPPP

We left the building and walked to Darcy's Porsche. That's right; this guy was wealthy enough to freely drive a silver Porsche convertible.

"This was not what I had in mind of what you would be driving when I met you at the bakery."

"Not the ideal car, but my parents got it for my graduation present and I shouldn't buy another car when this one is still working."

"That's reasonable enough, but I am awfully jealous that you're driving a Porsche while I'm going safe with a Honda." We got in and Darcy drove me to a small formal restaurant that lied on the outskirt of New Haven. The interior of this place was beautifully decorated for Valentine's Day. Everything was either a soft red or pink or had small hearts on it.

"Romantic, isn't it?" Darcy asked as we sat down at our reserved table.

"It depends on who you ask. If you ask a love struck fool then yes, it is romantic."

"Are you a love stuck fool?"

"A fool? Maybe. Love struck? Not really. This place is classic but the atmosphere is a little stuffy for me."

"So you don't like it?" Darcy asked with a small look of disappointment in his face.

"I like this place but I'm not really big on Valentine's Day." Since when? I asked myself but it was one of those things where when you're single then all those lovey-dovey things that you used to love to do now makes you want to vomit.

"I guess it'll be my job to change that, huh?"

"Have you noticed that you guess a lot?"

"There's no such thing as a definite answer."

"There's a definite answer to 2+2. Four, right?"

"2+2 can equal fish for all you know." I laughed at that statement.

There was an awkward pause between us but it was then interrupted by our waiter, asking us what we wanted to have. We both ended up having steaks. (I love steaks!)

"Have you known Frances for long?" Darcy asked.

"Not really, I met him for the first time like two weeks ago. I can't believe that you two are related."

"I can't believe that either."

"What I don't get is how you didn't even know that he was your cousin."

"We're not exactly blood-related and I'm not really big on my extended family."

"You're the nuclear family kind of guy, huh?"

"My sister and mother are all my needs."

"All your needs? Then why would you even want a girlfriend?"

"Because I like a challenge once in while." He said with a playful smirk forming across his face.

"That's good to hear."

"Don't get me wrong. I want to find a girl to love but I don't want a girl that's easy to get and…"

"Not accomplished enough?" I finished his sentence.

"In a way…yes."

"My, my, you really stick to your words, Darcy."

"Of course."

We ate for a little more and Darcy called our waiter forward and asked him to bring us a good bottle of red wine. When the waiter came back with the wine, he poured us two glasses with the strong stuff.

"Cheers." Darcy held out his glass and clinked it with mine. I put it down while Darcy took a little sip.

"What's the matter? Why aren't you drinking?"

"Has the fact that I'm eighteen ever occurred to you?" I asked, sarcastically. I thought it was very funny but pushed the wine glass away from me.

"Oh," he said.

"Kind of forgot about that?" I said, encouragingly.

"Yeah, well I guess I'll have this glass too." He took it and drank the whole thing and I looked at him for a minute and he suddenly started to turn red.

"Have you drank alcohol before, Darcy?" I asked. I was worried. If he gets drunk, I'm going to have to drive. I don't know how to drive stick!

"Of course…of course." Darcy said, sounding sure of himself and finished up his glass. Wasn't wine something that you drink and enjoy with little sips. I have never seen anyone down two glasses of wine before. I guess he was being a little too confident of himself and thought that he could handle the alcohol…he couldn't.

Ten minutes late, I was holding up Darcy (and he's really tall and heavy for me) and trying to drag him to the car. Darcy ended up finishing most of the bottle of wine, I tried to stop him but his big ego wouldn't have any of what I said. When I got to the car, I had to find a way to get to his keys so I made him leaned against the Porsche and searched through his pockets. (And no, I didn't do anything inappropriate…dirty minds. ) I found the keys in his left jacket pocket a short while later and pressed the button to unlock all the doors. I opened the passenger door and slowly helped Darcy into his seat.

"There, Darcy, buckle up." I felt like I was his nanny or something or at least his big sister.

"Ok, Lizzy…" I'll let him slide this time because he was intoxicated after all. Darcy pulled on the belt and put it into the buckle and heard the click and became overly excited, "Funny! It made a clicky sound, Lizzy!" (When reading this, you should try to imagine Darcy drunk and acting like a six-year-old.)

"Good, Darcy."

I closed the door behind me and walked over to the driver's side of the car and turned on the ignition using the keys. I breathed in and put the car in gear. It wasn't really that I didn't know how to drive stick shift but it was just that I didn't do it often enough for it to become second nature for me.

The drive home wasn't very long but I was nervous the whole time. Darcy was just sleeping his head off. It struck me odd that he hadn't vomit yet. People usually puke around this state of drunkenness. If he puked, then at least it won't be in _my_ car. I would've killed him right then and there and fed his body to the fishes if it was my car.

When we got back to Yale, it was pitch dark. There was virtually nobody around except for a few couple who decided to take a walk in the moonlight. I knew that Charlie was still with Jane as it was only eight 'o clock. I began to walk with Darcy toward Berkley. Of course, I didn't know where Darcy's room was but I would assume that the RA there would know. I walked into the living room where, surprisingly, a lot of guys were hanging out.

"Do you guys know where I might find the RA of this place?" I called out to the crowd while Darcy was holding onto my shoulders. I am seriously having a hard time in holding him up.

"Will Darcy's our RA and he's out on a date." One of the guys said without looking up. Date?

"Well, I have him right here with me but I can't seem to get him to tell me where his room is." They looked up and immediately realized that Darcy wasn't really here with us on Earth. While I was trying my best to hold him, Darcy was mumbling something into my ear. I didn't understand what he said.

"Damn, Will, what did you do to yourself?" The same guy asked.

"He's drunk, can you tell me where his room is?" I was sure they would let me take him to his room.

"It's on the second floor, room 208." He said with a smirk.

I ignored it and thanked him. I proceeded to drag Darcy up the stairs and finally to his room five minutes later. I opened the door with Darcy's keys and found a very neat room. I would have expected it so since Darcy wouldn't even let me sharpen his pencil one time because he thought that I would sharpen it the wrong way. How you would sharpen a pencil the wrong way beats the heck out of me.

"Ok, Darcy, time to go to bed."

"Ok…" Darcy said as he began to unbutton his shirt. I blushed and quickly turned around. I walked to his bathroom (He even has his own bathroom!) and tried to see if I could find any Advil that would help with the coming handover. I came back with water to find Darcy already in bed. He looked really sleepy and it just made me smile.

"Take this, before you wake up tomorrow in the most painful state you've ever been in." I came over to him and gave him the glass of water and pills. He took it and put it into his mouth and drank the water. "Now go to bed, Darcy. You have classes tomorrow." Darcy looked at me and sat up a little and kissed me on the cheek. I immediately reached up to my cheek. I could feel my cheeks burning and growing red.

"Thanks for taking care of me, Lizzy." he laid back down on the bed and I helped tuck him in.

"You're welcome. Now go to sleep." I bent down and lightly kissed him on the forehead like a mother would do to a child. I turned off the light and left Berkeley; I walked back to Davenport and came home to find Jane sitting with Charlie in front of the TV watching Moulin Rouge. I love that movie! But I didn't stick around to watch it. I got my stuff and went to take a shower. I came back half an hour later to find Jane also getting ready for bed.

"Where's Charlie?"

"He went home."

We both got into our beds and Jane asked me what had happened today. I asked the same to her and we both talked until one of us fell asleep. Today had been a strange day but not the weirdest I've encountered. But it was truly been one of the more stranger Valentine's Day that I've experienced.

_A/N: Bom dia, everybody! I hope this wasn't so long of a wait. I couldn't think of anything for this chapter for some time. I guess a week and half is a long time. Even I have been cringing to get this chapter out. To make it up to you, I made this chapter twice as along as my others chapters. I apologize if chapter 13 had a lot of grammar errors and typos. I kind of rushed through that chapter and forgot to read through it. Sorry! I want to thank all of you for reviewing and I feel so lucky to have now gotten 60 reviews! That's so great! I hope you like this chapter. It might be a little wordy but I was trying to make it long and couldn't think of anything else. _

_Question of the day: I was wondering what you guys think should happen next. I was thinking that the next chapter should start a couple of months after Valentine's Day, on Lizzy's birthday and have Collins propose. Does that sound good to you? I could then have the Wickham character come in. ...I just thought of something, you're going to love this! Suggestions are much loved since there's a pretty good chance I will use it. Thanks to all my reviewers and readers and hope you had fun with this chapter. Remember, any part of this story that might seem familiar to you like you've heard it somewhere probably means that I didn't make it up. I probably took it somewhere and this would be my disclaimer. Thanks for reading! _


	15. 1 Birthday, 2 Walks, 3 Guys

**Where we have strong emotions, we're liable to fool ourselves.**

**Carl Sagan**

**Chapter XV: 1 Birthday, 2 Walks, 3 Guys**

It's June now so, in case you get confused, here's a recap of what happened after that dinner on Valentine's Day. The next day after the dinner, Darcy walked into our biochem class with a humungous headache (as expected) and told me that he couldn't remember a thing that happened the night before. I decided, for the best, to not fill him in. it wasn't like Darcy did anything too embarrassing but I didn't want his pride hurt anymore than it already was with him not knowing. I would just save him the story for another day.

Collins has been annoying as ever. Every weekend, he would call to ask me either about my family (I would tell him to call my parents if he wanted to know about their health but he kept on calling.) and/or about myself. We (mostly he) usually talked about five minutes and then I would make up some excuse to hang up. That has been going on every single weekend since I met him. Of course you would tell me to not pick up the phone but Jane would always be there a step ahead of me and since it was not in her nature to lie, she would be the one to tell Collins that I was at home.

As to Jane and Charlie, they really made the cutest couple I've ever seen. They really were truly in love (in a way that even I couldn't express in words.) I had really high hopes that Charlie will marry Jane one day.

Like I said, (now that that's done), it was now late June and I was now officially a sophomore at Yale University! I basically crammed for my exam in the last week but luckily I was able to pass my test with flying colors. (The colors may be dull colors but they were flying none the less.) I was at my parent's house right now since school was let out about a week ago. Jane went to Charlie's Hamptons home and would be back to her house in a week or so, just in time for my birthday party. Yep, my birthday was on July 1st and I was so psyched! I was going to be turning nineteen and I thought I would have a small party with Jane (and whoever wished to tag along).

"What are we doing for your birthday, Lizzy?" I was lying on my back on my bed talking to Jane on the phone.

"I was thinking of going to the beach. What do you think?" I haven't been to the beach in a while; I thought that this would be a great opportunity.

"That's great! And we could probably have a bonfire there or something."

"That sounds like a plan. Tell Charlie that he can come also…" I heard a girl in the background and I instantly knew that it was Caroline. She started saying how she hadn't been to the beach in a long time and even from where I was (through the phone) I was getting annoyed. I could almost picture Charlie's puppy face and decided to do something I probably never thought of myself doing. "Caroline also, Jane, she can come with us too."

Jane immediately thanked me and told me that she had to go. After that, I decided that if Charlie and Caroline were coming, I might as well have Darcy come also. I didn't know where he was right now but I assumed that he was in England since that was where his parents live. I managed to get his phone number before I drove home from Yale, so I took out my phonebook and flipped through the pages.

"Hello?" a girl said through the receiver. She had a slight British accent to her tone and I guess she was related to Darcy somehow.

"Hi, can I speak to Darcy please?" I said.

"Sorry, there isn't anybody here by that name but this is the Darcy resident." The girl said. I racked my brain. Did I have the wrong number? No, because the girl said that it was the Darcy resident. So why wasn't Darcy there? Then it hit me, his name's Will!

"Oh sorry, let me say it again. Is Will there?" I corrected myself.

"Oh yes, he's here. May I ask who's this?" I thought about that for a moment.

"Tell Will that this is Miss Bennet." It was becoming sort of a tradition. We both call each other by our last names. It was quite easy really.

"Miss Bennet, I thought you would never call." Darcy's voice ranged through the receiver.

"You know I would call…eventually. Where are you right now?"

"At my house, Miss Bennet."

"Oh, so what are the directions to the other side of the rainbow then?" I said sarcastically.

"Ha Ha, I'm in New York with my sister. Why?"

"I wanted to see if you wanted to go the beach with Jane and I since Charlie is coming also."

"That sounds all right to me."

"And see if your sister could come too. It'll be nice to finally meet her." Of all the time that Darcy spent talking about his sister, I just had to meet her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, have her come. The more the merrier."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

So it was set. A week later, I turned nineteen. It was a happy feeling, the feeling you would get when you're a little older. Not the special feeling you get when you turn sixteen or eighteen but a happy feeling none the less.

When I woke up that morning, I ate breakfast and got ready. It was horribly hot but it made the day all the better to go to the beach. I did a little packing and told my parents that I was leaving. My parents told me that they didn't want to interfere (which they wouldn't) but never the less, they had to take a business trip so they wouldn't have been able to go anyways.

I was driving on the highway (I was almost halfway there) when my cell phone rang.

"Hello?" I said through the speaker of my ear piece.

"Lizzy, dear, it's your mom."

"Hi, mom"

"You're just going to be at the beach today, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"This may sound last minute…" Sound familiar?

"Mom…" I asked, warningly. "What did you do this time?"

"Well, Frances knew that today was your birthday (Your father told him, not me.) and he wanted to talk to you…so I kind of told him where you would be today."

"What?" I screamed. "Mom! What did I tell you?"

"I know, dear but can't you have patience with him just for today?"

I gave up. I guess one day wouldn't hurt.

_"What are you talking about?" The little devil on my shoulder said._

_"Forgive your mom, Lizzy. She has no idea how much you really don't like Collins." The angel on my other shoulder argued back. "And besides," the angel said, "how much time do you have to actually physically be with Collins?"_

She (or I?) made a good point. I turned up the CD player because the angel and devil started arguing again and kept on driving.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I parked my car and got out and noticed that Jane and Charlie (and unfortunately Caroline) had already set up their towels and chairs. Jane was looking beautiful as always. She was wearing a blue halter one-piece swim suit and it completely showed off her fine arms and legs (she, unlike I, actually went to the gym).

I came up and greeted everybody. We chatted and got warmed up in the sun and waited for the rest of the group to come (dreading the arrival of Collins but…). Caroline didn't join into our conversation much but when she did speak, it was to say something about her and what she had done. There was no cure for whatever Caroline had but when she heard that Darcy was coming, she immediately got excited and took out her mirror and checked her lip gloss.

About ten minutes later, Darcy arrived with a teenager trailing behind him.

"So, this is where you all end up." He said, laying his cooler down beside our chairs.

"Yes, sadly, water calms us down." I looked up to Darcy. I noticed that he really needed a tan but other than that, he was the same. The teen, that was standing behind him, pulled on his shirt and Darcy quickly realized what he forgot to do.

"Um…Jane, Miss Bennet, I would like for you to meet my little sister, Anne." Caroline (for some odd reason) had gone to Charlie's car. When she came back, she quickly ran up and jumped on Darcy from behind with her arms wrapped around his neck.

"I missed you so much, Will!"

Will, with a slight annoyed expression replied that he missed her also. Caroline turned and started talking to Anne and congratulating her on a lot of stuff. I could see that Anne wasn't quite as pleased to see Caroline as Caroline was to her. I felt that I should rescue the poor girl from Caroline.

"Hi, I'm Lizzy Bennet. You're Anne, right?"

"Yes, nice to meet you. But my brother told me to call you Miss Bennet." Anne looked at Darcy with a bit of confusion.

"'Miss Bennet' is only reserved for Darcy. You are not allowed to call me that, Anne. Call me Lizzy."

"I feel so lucky that I am so excluded from this 'Calling you Lizzy' list." Darcy said as he walked to me.

"You're very special, Darcy. We wouldn't want you to feel threaten if someone else called me 'Miss Bennet'."

"You're right. I get special privilege." I just smiled at him and went back to talking to Anne. I have found that she was a sweet girl of fifteen. She seemed very shy but after I talked to her for a moment, she loosened up and talked very freely.

"Oh, Elizabeth!" I heard my name called near the parking lot. I looked over and saw in horror, Collins in the most embarrassing outfit for the beach I have ever seen. He was wearing his swimming trunks that he pulled up above his waist and his bright blue Hawaiian shirt seemed to have reflected all the sunlight at us. It was so embarrassing to see him like that, and to think that he was here because of me.

"Mr. Collins, you're here." I put on a fake smile, standing up.

"How are you, my dear?" he said, giving the back of my hand a slow kiss. It gave me chilling Goosebumps.

"Good…good."

"And happy birthday"

"Thank you, Mr. Collins."

"It's your birthday?" Darcy asked. I forgot to tell him that we were all coming to the beach because today was my birthday.

"Yeah, didn't you know?"

"I think you left that detail out the last time we talked."

"Oops…"

After I had said that, Collins declared that we should all have a stretch before we get into the water. Only Jane was dumb enough to actually stand up and stretch. I just wanted to get into the water so I just walked toward the shore and sat down on the wet beach. The hot sand with the cool water made everything just perfect.

"Lizzy?" I heard my name called and I turned to see John. Remember him? He was the guy that kicked me out at the beginning of this story.

"John, what are you doing here?" I said with a light tone. I'm not mad anymore. I haven't forgiven him either.

"It's July and I'm at the beach. Is there something wrong with that?" John said as he sat down by me.

"Of course not…anyways…how's life?" I asked him after a short pause.

"Pretty good. School's hard but I'll survive. How about you?"

"I'm rooming with Jane and I've made a couple of friends. Life is pretty good when I think about it."

"That's good to hear. So you…" Knowing him for so long, I think I knew what he was trying to say.

"Yes, John, everything turned out for the better. I would say that I'm happier now. Thanks for your concern; it was about time that you felt guilty." I smiled. I missed having John around. I knew that college was a place where everybody went their separate ways but John and I made a promised that we would always be friends. I knew that I would never be this soft for any other guy, and that I told myself that I was over him but it was John.

"Well, I felt so bad about what happened and I wanted to apologize for everything and that…" John didn't get to finished what he wanted to say because Jane called me and said that Charlie had gone out and brought us food.

"Hurry up, Lizzy!" she yelled. Obviously she didn't see John. I didn't know what Jane would say when she sees him.

I walked up to where the group was sitting. John told me that he was going back to get his towel to dry off and that he would meet up with me later.

"Who was that?" Darcy asked me as he handed me a sandwich.

"That was John if you must know." Jane stopped what she was doing (pouring Caroline a glass of water) and looked over to me looking speechless.

"Who?" Collins asked. (I forgot that he was still here.)

"An old friend of mine" I answered.

Jane came and pulled me aside. She asked me if John was really here. I confirmed her belief and told her that it was ok. Jane still looked a little worried but seemed to be satisfied with my answer.

We all ate and talked. Then we went to the shore and swam and played in the water. John joined me and we had of fun. For a guy who had the worst way of dumping someone, I had almost forgotten how much fun I had when I was with John. He may not be _the_ _one_ like I told you but he came pretty close. John and I eventually watched the sunset together and I couldn't believe that this was how I had spent my 19th birthday. Jane and Charlie (Caroline thought that the bottle she had was sun block but it was actually lotion so she was in Charlie's car with ice because she had like huge sunburns everywhere. It was pretty funny and sad at the same time.) got a special permit and had built a bonfire for me just for today.

We were all gathered around the bonfire talking when Collins asked me if I would take a walk with him. I felt sorry for him since he came all this way and I had completely ignored him. Then again, I didn't feel sorry for him. I agreed to go with him anyway.

"Dearest Lizzy, I need to tell you something." Dearest? I wish Collins would stop being that familiar with me.

"What?"

"Will you marry me?" dot…dot…dot…WHAT!

"What?" I asked him again to see if my hearing was correct.

"Will you marry me?" he looked at me and still saw the blank stare that I was giving him. "I guess I should start out by saying why I would want to marry you." Please no.

"I am thirty years old and I have not found as much love in my life as you have given me. I have a great career and make a great deal of money and I wouldn't understand why you wouldn't accept my offer. And it is the wish of my amazing Aunt, Catherine de Bourgh that I should marry. That is reason enough for you to accept, right?" he has GOT to be kidding me!

"It's nice for you to offer, Mr. Collins, but I don't want to marry you." I tried to keep up the polite act. He was after all a family acquaintance.

"I see what you're trying to do."

"What would that be?"

"You want to prolong the proposal as to make me want you more. You are very clever, Lizzy."

"Excuse me but that is not what I'm trying to do. That would be mean but I do have to say one thing though."

"What is that?"

"No means no" Collins kept on insisting on me marrying him but I kept repeating myself. He finally got it five minutes later and he left the beach, gathering up his stuff, crying.

"What happened to Frances?" Jane asked as I joined them again.

"He left." I said casually.

"We can all see that." Darcy said as I gave a roasted marshmallow to Anne.

"Well, if you really want to know. When Collins realized that I wasn't going to marry him, he left."

"WHAT!" The whole group yelled in unison. I just sat myself down, pick up a marshmallow and popped it into my mouth. I told them all that had happened but it wasn't exactly a long story.

When it was time to go home, I bid everybody goodbye and promised Anne that I would attend her birthday party in August. She was so sweet and polite. She really reminded me of Jane. John and I were the last ones to leave and John asked me if I wanted to walk off all the marshmallows that we had just eaten. I agreed with him and we started walking along the shore.

After a long pause of taking in the cool breeze, John turned to face me.

"I've missed you, Lizzy."

I turned to face John. He had his sincere face on. I was truly confused.

"Ditto." I liked that word. It saved you the trouble of saying the one thing that you didn't want to say again. It makes the world sound less repetitive.

"What I'm trying to say is that this past year has been hell for me without you. I want you back, Lizzy." I want to say something back, but I can't. This wasn't like me. I told myself that John was unforgivable. What should I do? I was confused; the wall I built was coming down.

"Will you be my girlfriend again, Lizzy?" John asked again.

"Yes." I smiled and we kissed.

Now all I needed to do was try to explain this to Jane.

_A/N: Hello everybody! How have you guys been? I hope you like this chapter. I have given you your Wickham character. He won't exactly be the evil Wickham more like boyfriend Wickham. Now I know that I made Lizzy seem very weak and stupid but please understand that Lizzy is still looking for love out there and though John might not have been "the one" at the beginning of the sotry, she thinks that he might be now. Plus, I like the new twist. So what do you think of the story so far? I thank you all for reviewing and I get so happy when I get a review, so keep it up. Thanks to all the readers and reviewers and I might have the next chapter in two weeks since I'm going to MUN conference next weekend. See you then!_


	16. No Main Idea Here

**All love that has not friendship for its base, is like a mansion built upon sand.**

**Ella Wheeler Wilcox**

**Chapter XVI: No Main Idea Here  
**

For the rest of July, I spent a lot of time with John. I feel so happy being able to be with him. He makes me happy. Of course, Jane didn't take the news quite as well as I would have hoped it to be. Jane was so mad at me agreeing to go back to John because she said that it was a very stupid thing for me to do. I tried to tell her that it was my choice and that I felt at ease when I'm with him. Jane finally gave in but I don't think that she is exactly happy for me. In her mind, she had high hopes of getting me and Darcy together.

As to Darcy and I, he still doesn't know about John and I. for some reason, I want to tell him but am afraid of his reaction. Why I should care about Darcy's reaction, I have no idea.

I was at the mall with John to look for Anne's present.

"What do you think I should get Anne, John?" I asked him as he slipped his arms around my waist.

"Anne?" he asked.

"Will Darcy's little sister, remember? I told you already."

"Well I haven't exactly met this Will Darcy of yours so how would you expect me to remember his sister?"

"Well, she invited me to her birthday party next week and I want to get her something nice. So what do you think?" I held up two perfume bottles and sprayed it each time into the air near John's nose.

"Hmmmm…"

"Forget it, how would you know which perfume smells the best?" I went back and sprayed the flower smelling liquid into the air near my nose.

"Just kidding" he joked, "So who is this 'Will Darcy'?"

"I told you already. He's this guy I met at Yale and he's Charlie Bingley's best friend." I know I lied of where I met Darcy but John can be one jealous person if he knows about Darcy and I. And I'm not exactly lying about this, I'm just not telling the whole truth.

"Are you two close?" John asked seriously.

"I wouldn't exactly say that we're close but we are in a sense…yes."

"Should I be worried about you going to this birthday party then?" John said as I handed the cashier the money for the perfume bottle I picked out. It had a light flowery sent and the container was pretty cute also.

"You don't have to be worried about anything."

John believed me of course. I mean, why wouldn't he? Next week I got into my car and drove up to northern New York and arrived at a very huge mansion. The house had a very huge lawn lush with green grass and rose bushes and tulips everywhere. I stood in front of the house in awe. How could someone live in a place this big? I wouldn't know.

"Lizzy!" Anne came out of the open doors and ran to me and gave me a hug.

"Hey, birthday girl! So this is your place?"

"Yeah! Let me show you around." She grabbed my arm and pulled towards the big oak doors. The house (May I say mansion?) was truly big. The grand spiral staircase took us some time to climb and we walked to her room. You would think that a girl like Anne would have a very pink room but no…it was a very blue room. Different yet the same.

"So your favorite color is blue?" I asked looking around to the blue bed and the blue wallpaper.

"It's actually pink. My parents thought that they were going to have a second son so they had this room done blue so when I came along, they kept with the color scheme."

"Well today's your lucky day, Anne. I got you something pink." I said as she led me to another bedroom that had a warm chocolate theme to it. It was so comforting.

"This must be your parents' room." I said noticing the very stylish taste to the pillows and it made me just want to sleep in it.

"Nope, it's Will's room. He even decorated it himself." This was Darcy's handiwork? He should take a try in my room.

"It's called refurnishing, Anne." We both turned around and saw Darcy standing behind us looking into his room like we had just done.

"What? Decorating is too feminine of a word for the Great Will Darcy to use?" I said teasingly.

"And a hello to you too, Miss Bennet." He smiled. "Want to come in?" he invited us to his room.

"Sure." This room is completely humungous! I jumped onto the bed (I really just plopped) and felt the satin under me. It was really hot today so I wore a tank top and shorts so the cool satin underneath my thighs made my day so much the more better.

"Like it?" Anne asked.

"Love it. It's really hard to believe that Darcy could be so…so…"

"Artistic?" Darcy added.

"I was going for stylish but that works."

The sound of a car outside honking was then heard and we wondered who it could have been. We walked downstairs and opened the door to see Caroline at the front door smiling and quickly frowning when she saw me.

"Lizzy, what are you doing here?" she asked taking off her sunglasses (probably Gucci) and placing it on top of her head.

"I was invited to the same birthday party, Caroline. Remember?" I invited her in and quickly ran to hug Jane who was coming out of the car. We both said our quick hellos and I helped Charlie bring in his luggage (why?) and when we got into the house I handed the suitcase to Darcy as Jane asked me about John.

"So Lizzy how's John?"

"You mean that guy from the beach?" how rude was Darcy interfering?

"And also my boyfriend…thank you very much. Yes, Jane, he's doing fine. He's currently working at a music store and is taking me to France for Christmas." I smiled at the thought.

Darcy just stopped and looked at me…speechless. "You have a boyfriend?" he asked sounding as if he can't believe what he's hearing right now.

"Yes, has been since my birthday. I am capable of getting boyfriend, you know?"

"Never said that you couldn't."

"And don't forget the four years in high school." Jane interjected.

"Oh…" I would've imagined Darcy being very jealous but the refine person that Darcy is would never allow him to be jealous. I applaud him for that.

"So anyways…what's with this luggage, Jane?"

"Charlie and Caroline are actually staying here for a couple of weeks." Jane replied.

We put away the suitcases and then proceeded to the (HUGE!) backyard to actually have a party since everybody was here. I had asked Anne why her parents weren't here and there seems to be some sad tone in her voice when she said that her parents had a lot of work to do. Even though Darcy was only a few years older than Anne, I think that he is the one that plays the father figure in this teenage girl's life.

"What is this "John" like?" Darcy asked as we were gathering around the table for some barbequed chicken.

"Why the question?" To be honest, I have no idea how I would describe John to Darcy.

"Just thought that I should know. I am you're friend after all."

"You're my friend now are you?"

"Yes I am and I will always be even if you run away." He turned and tickled my sides which made me spilled my soda onto both of us.

"Now look what you did." we both laughed while Darcy tried hard to apologize through his laughs and said that he would loan me a T-shirt if I wanted to change. (By then, the shirt that I was wearing was already ruined.) I agreed with him and we both walked back into his room again.

"Do you have any idea how amazing your room makes people feel?" I said, looking around as he handed me a T-shirt.

"And here I thought that I should make my room look manlier." He said with a grin.

"There's nothing wrong with having a stylish personality. I mean, your clothes always look great on you and they match, from your dorky sweaters to your shoes."

"You think my sweaters are dorky?"

"Cha…but it's you, you know."

"I'm an exception?"

"Yes you are." And we just both smiled at each other. It was a sweet moment but I immediately came back down to earth. I have a boyfriend, I reminded myself.

I took the T-shirt that Darcy gave me and changed into his bathroom. The place really was beautiful but there's this feel to it that doesn't quite spell 'happy'. I pushed the thought out of my head. It wasn't any of my business so I will leave it at that. I came back down and stayed down there with the rest of the day.

"Well, I guess it's time for Jane and I to go home." I said to the group as the last part of the sun disappeared into the horizon. I told Jane that I could give her a ride home since Charlie and Caroline are staying with Darcy. Charlie and Jane gave their last goodbye and Anne and Darcy walked me to the car.

"Thank you so much for coming, Lizzy. Thanks for the perfume too, it's so pretty."

"It's all good. Just make sure you invite me to these things more often, it was really fun."

I thanked Anne again and said my goodbye to Darcy. Jane and I got into the car and drove home.

"What are you doing before school starts, Lizzy?" Jane asked as we were driving and finished talking about the party that happened today.

"I will the three measly weeks that I have left sleeping but I might go down to Atlantic City for a day or two."

"I want to come too! But aren't the rooms there really expensive?" Jane asked.

"No problem, my parents got an offer of 2 free rooms for 2 nights at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa."

"We're too young to gamble, Lizzy."

"But it doesn't stop us from staying at that place and eat the food and spend a day in a spa, now does it?"

So it was set. Atlantic City in five days and I think I might just call John to see if he wants to come.

_A/N: I finally update. I'm so sorry but I had major writer's block for this chapter. (I finally understand what my friend is saying when she says that.) This isn't as good of a chapter as I would hope but I need it to lead up to next chapter. I'll give you a hint…fist fight between John and Darcy! That probably gave the chapter too much away too much._

_Question of the day: I'm breaking the story up into parts so should I make that a separate story or I just keep on updating on this one? Part one ends on chapter 20 so it's pretty close._

_I know I haven't update in awhile so I at least owe some of you guys what MUN is. It's basically a simulation of what actually goes on in the United Nations. It's pretty cool. I went down to Washington D.C. and represented my country of Peru (my assigned country) at the Organization of American States. It was a lot of fun and I stayed there for four days._

_Anyways, I just had my spring break (if you can call 5 days including the weekends so really 3 days a spring break) and my family went up to Atlantic City (thus the setting for the next chapter, I really pull some of the events in the story from my own life sometimes) and we went down to the boardwalk and everything._

_Tomorrow I'm going to be going to New York City for a school trip for two days and it'll be so much fun! I promise to update soon as soon as I gather my thoughts together (maybe 10 hours of being on a bus will do me some good) and maybe updating on Sunday night?_

_Thank you all for reading and reviewing and I'll speak to you all later._


	17. The Fight That Ended All Fights

**Love is everything it's cracked up to be…It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for.**

**Erica Jong**

**Chapter XVII: The Fight That Ended All Fights  
**

For some reason, the weather in August was still very warm in New Jersey but it made the two-day trip down to Atlantic City all the more fun.

When John, Jane, and I arrived, everybody wanted to go their seperate ways for awhile. I wanted to explore the building so I told Jane where I was going to be. I took the elevator down and as I was walking out of the elevator with the doors closing behind me, I realized that I had left my room key and cell phone up in the room. I heard the ring of another elevator opening and quickly ran to the door so that it wouldn't close on me . I ran alright... right into someone.

It was so like me to run into a complete stranger. Only this wasn't a complete stranger. The person I ran into had a distinct smell to him that reminded me of only one person….

"What are you doing here, Darcy?" I asked as I watched him just looking at me as if he too was not expecting me.

"I had a business meeting for my parents here at this hotel for the weekend so..." Great, here I was thinking that I would actually get to peace and quiet.

"Is Charlie here with you?"

"Yeah, so is Caroline."

"Oh no" the one weekend that I took to go away to a different state to relax at a spa and evil witch devil is there hogging all the scrub? Life is so not fair.

Darcy and I talked and decided to go to a restaurant to have lunch. We went to Kobe to have one of their burgers. It was after all Darcy's treat. (There was no way in this world that I would pay for a Kobe burger without someone else helping me out. I love it and all but they are really expensive.)

We ate out lunch and had a lot of fun talking. He asked me why I was here and I told him that this trip would be my last vacation before going back to school. I asked if he had brought Anne with him here and said that she was here. I'm going to visit here later. Anne is so sweet, she reminds me of Jane (only younger) and since Jane is my best friend, by association, Anne would also be my best friend. (Best reasoning you've ever heard, right?)

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"There you are, Lizzy." somebody said as I looked up to see John.

"John, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to look for you, Jane said that you guys had a reservation here at 3:30." I sort of forgot about that.

"Oh, John, this is Will Darcy. He's the guy that I told you about. Darcy, this is John, my boyfriend."

Both guys greeted each other and shook hands. I have never felt so much tension as I did then. It was quite chilling and I didn't eactly know where it had come from.

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"So John saw you have lunch with Will?" Jane asked when I told her about it later.

"Yeah, it was really weird but I think everything was ok."

"Have you asked John if everything was ok between you guys?"

"Why would I ask him that?"

"You know men, Lizzy. They can become awfully jealous if you don't assure them that you're being faithful."

"I am being faithful. I have done nothing wrong."

"I'm sure that that's all true, Lizzy. But is that what John thinks?"

"I don't know but I'll have to talk to him about it later. Did you see Charlie in the hotel today?" I said as I just remember who else was here with Darcy.

"Yeah, he actually called me and we just hung out at the pool for a few hours and then he took me out to lunch."

"How cute, you know, I have a feeling, Jane."

"What feeling would that be?"

"That Charlie's going to marry you one day."

"Don't say that, Lizzy! We're far too young!" Jane blushed so hard, her face looked like a tomato.

"I'm not kidding. It's only been a year and you guys are so much in love already. Maybe...no I won't jinx it for you anymore."

"Good. Well, we better start getting ready, we did promise to meet up with the others for dinner." So we got ready. The whole time that I was in the shower I thought about what Jane had said. Was it true? Was it true that John was jealous of Darcy? That couldn't be. Why would he be jealous?

Alright, I did hide the fact that something happened between Darcy and I but that was it. Nothing more…maybe a little more. (I'm ranting now, aren't I?) Oh my gosh, I'm not only lying to myself but to John by omitting the truth. I think I need a therapist.

So we met up with the rest of the others. We were having pizza -much to Caroline's displeasure- and had a lot of fun. There was of course a slight feel of tension in the air. It made me nervous and hot. I didn't know why.

After we had all finished eating, (I was still talking to Anne who was completely ignoring Caroline which made me laugh the most today) Charlie asked what everybody wanted to do.

"Since we're on the Boardwalk, why not just walk around?" I suggested.

Everybody agreed (except Caroline who –and I quote- "It's way to cold to be outside at this time of night. The wind mixed with the salty air will totally ruin my new tan!") and so the group split up with. Charlie and Jane walked towards the beach while Anne and I talked so John and Darcy had to follow. We came to an arcade and Anne pulled me inside.

"Let's play air hockey, Lizzy!"

"If you want to, Anne. But I have to tell you that I can get pretty competitive when it comes to these things."

"Will has air hockey at home and I beat him at it every time."

"That's because I let you win." Darcy smiled.

We then proceeded to play. Just as I had promised, I played competitively and eventually won.

"Ok, who's next?" I asked John and Darcy.

"I'll play you, Miss Bennet."

"I think we've known each other long enough for you to just call me Bennet, Darcy."

"Ok, I'll play you, Bennet."

"Actually, you're tired, Lizzy. Why don't you let me play against Will?" I wasn't that tired and protested to say so but John insisted so I let him..

John and Darcy started playing. They went back and forth, and back and forth. It was a pretty laid back game at first with both the men attempting to incorporate small talk into the game. Then it started to get more intense and the questions and small talk started to edge its way into private areas.

"So, Will (is it?), how did you really meet my Lizzy?" John started first in a series of awkward questions.

"Well, I was working at her parents' bakery about a year ago and one day, she walked into the bakery to make cookies. I didn't know who she was exactly and wanted to call security to take her out. It was pretty embarrassing." Darcy laughed, but I wasn't. That was not the story that I told John. I saw John's hand grip his air hockey handle very tight.

"My turn, I heard that you and Bennet dated in high school. Why did you guys break up?" why would Darcy ask a question like that?

"It was because of college and the like."

"So, where do you go to school?"

"Yale." I have got to admit. John should've lied about that one. I mean he would have lie if he didn't want to sound like a complete moron. And then I saw something in Darcy's eyes that gave me a feeling that he was mad for a reason like he didn't quite understand.

"You're going to Yale? Huh…" That was all that Darcy really said at that time. I wondered what exactly went through Darcy's mind at that point.

"I hear you go to Yale too. Are you a sophomore?" John asked as he aggressively hit the puck across the table. The score right now was 1-1 and it didn't seem like the game was going to lighten up anytime soon.

"Actually I'm a senior."

"Oh yeah? Are you on any sports team?"

"No, I'm not really a sports person. More like a…"

"…business person?" John interjected.

"Yeah, I help my parents out with the company and all that comes with it." The game just kept on going back and forth and it started to make Anne and I feel really dizzy. The score was now 3-2 with Darcy in the lead but I didn't think that John wwas going to give up that easily.

"So Will, are you dating anyone?" what kind of question was that? He was really up to something.

"No, no one."

"If you want to meet someone nice, then you should ask Lizzy about it. She's great at match-making. Right, Lizzy?" John looked at me at the same time as Darcy scored one for his side as the puck went into the hole on John's side.

"Yeah, right."

After about two more scored points, the game was over. Darcy had won and John was not exactly very friendly about the loss. He quickly stormed out of the arcade after shaking hands with Darcy and I followed John to the shore of the beach. (Can I really have too many beach scenes?)

"John, wait up. What's the matter? What was that in there?"

"You really want to know? You really want to know, Liz?" John has never called me Liz.

"Yes, I want to know why you were being so competitive over air hockey." I asked.

"You lied and cheated on me!" he screamed at me. I was in a momentarily in a state of shock. What was he talking about?

"What?"

"You cheated on me with that Will guy!" he yelled again. I'm pretty sure that John hasn't had any drinks yet but he sure acted like he was drunk.

"I have done no such thing, John."

"Oh yeah, you lied to me about you meeting Will at Yale and then I saw you having lunch with him today."

"Yes, I did lie to you about that but it was nothing that I felt that you need to be jealous over like you are now and having lunch with Darcy was a complete coincidence."

"Liar!"

"What can I say that would make you believe me?" I asked desperately. John was being such a jackass. It feels as if I was not in my own right to see other people even if I hadn't. Darcy and I were friends and there was nothing else to it. I was completely lying to myself but I have never dealt with John being this jealous before.

"Nothing." He looked at me seemingly really hurt and left me right there on the beach.

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I sank down into the sand, the warm minerals brushing against my feet and legs and I sat down. I was hurt to say the least but I didn't know how much until Darcy called me from behind.

"You ok?" he asked sitting down next to me.

"Yeah, where's Anne?"

"She's with Jane and Charlie. Where's John?"

"I don't think I care right now where he is."

"What happened?" he asked sincerely. I mentally thanked him for caring and took great comfort in that fact.

"John accused me of cheating."

"With who?"

"With you, Can you believe it?"

"That was understandable, I guess."

"Yeah, but did he seriously think that I wasn't going to see anyone for a whole year?"

"So what now?"

"I don't know but I think that John and I need to talk. I finally kind of remember why we broke up the first time."

"Why?" Darcy seems interested now. I laughed at that and asked him why he wanted to know.

"Because…"

"If it comforts you to know, John and I were going to live together before we started Yale but he just asked me to leave one day. I had to ask my parents for dorm loan and that's how I became Jane's roommate."

"That horrible!" Darcy's face gave an expression that expressed true disgust. "Why would you go back to a guy like that?"

"I felt so happy when I was with him."

"But he treated you so badly."

"It was only that once." It looked like Darcy could not believe that I was seriously defending John. Now that I think about, why did I defend him? Why did I even go back to him?

"It's still very bad."

"I know…" I was going to say something more when I turn to Darcy but we sort of had one of our moments again.

"Lizzy! Will!" we both turned around to see the rest of the group. I guess it was time to go and quickly got up to go to Jane.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Where's John?" Jane asked out of the blue. Actually we were all in the car and were ready to leave until Jane -being the mindful girl that she was- remembered John.

"I'll go find him." I volunteered. If somebody was going to go talk to him then it might as well be me.

"I'll come too." Darcy said.

We started walking out of the parking lot.

"Why are you coming with me?" I asked Darcy curiously.

"I just want to give you some moral support."

"Aw, thanks, Darcy. Now where is that John?" I took out my phone and dialed John's number and suddenly heard a ring not too far away.

Darcy and I slowly walked to where the ring was and we came up to a car. Someone started talking.

"Who is it?" a girl asked. There were little muffles while she was talking and I looked at Darcy and he gave me the same confused look.

"Nobody..." If there was only one voice that I would recognized then and that would be John's voice. I caught myself wondering who the girl might be.

"Ok, well back to my question. Why didn't you call me that you were going to Atlantic City?"

"Well, I sort of forgot." John nervously laughed.

"Forgot? How could you forget to include me on your AC trip? You know we always come here every summer." The girl said seductively. "After all, I am your girlfriend, right John?"

I thought I just had a stroke right there. I straightened ready to confront John when Darcy caught hold of my hand. I looked at Darcy and who gave me a sign that it was not the right time to be angry at the moment. So I took out my phone and once again re-dialed John's number. It ringed as expected but John was being stupid doing something (probably making out with his "girlfriend") and didn't pick up. He just let the phone ring (was he deaf?) until the girl had had enough and said,

"Who's Lizzy, John?" the girl asked him. She probably took the phone from him and looked at the caller ID.

"Nobody special." John lied through what seemed to be gritted teeth. How could he say that I was nobody special?

"Lizzy…wasn't she a classmate of yours in high school?"

"Yeah, but it's really nothing, Emily."

"So, why would she be calling you now?" I have had enough of listening to this conversation.

"Because his _girlfriend_ was looking for him." I said while walking to him. Darcy stood by my side the whole time but he didn't say much. He just kept silent. He really should talk more.

"What?" Emily said with a tone of disbelief.

"Sorry to interrupt this make out session," I said noticing the smeared lipstick on John's face. "But I've been looking for John for ten minutes now."

"Who might you be?" Emily asked. She sounded like a freakishly jealous person to me but she is quite beautiful. I can understand why John would go out for a girl like her.

"My manners, I'm Lizzy Bennet, up until about five minutes ago, I was John's girlfriend." I saw that Emily's face was full of shock, as if she couldn't believe that she was the other woman.

I looked up to John and smiled at him, "John, I was going to tell you that we were ready to leave but I see that you're busy, so make sure you find a way back to your room…Ok?" I didn't wait for his answer, I just turned and walked away.

"Wait Lizzy, let me explain. It's not how it appears."

"Come on, John. That is seriously the oldest excuse in the book. You cheated on me, you probably have been for many years now and _you_ accused me of cheating when you know that I haven't done anything like that."

"How would I know that, Lizzy? If you didn't have a thing with Will then why is he standing right there?" John pointed out to Darcy. I didn't want to talk to him anymore and just told Darcy that we were going.

I turned around and left but John caught hold of my arm and wouldn't let go. I tried to make him let go of me by pulling my arm but he was too strong. I struggled some more when I gave one more pull while John let go and fell hard to the ground. John –realizing what he had done- tried to help me up but he only succeeded in making me cry out in pain because he had touched my arm where it was bleeding.

Darcy quickly ran over and pushed John away from me.

"Get away from her." Darcy warned.

"You get away from her. It's your fault that all this is happening." What in the world was John talking about? It was kind of his fault.

"Excuse me?" Darcy said as he helped me up from the ground.

"I said that it was your fault. If you hadn't interfered, Lizzy and I wouldn't have had that stupid fight." John turned to me with a pleading look. "Lizzy, please let me explain."

"And once again I say, 'I have nothing to say to you.'" John once again caught hold of my arm begging. It was like déjà vu only this time, when I fell, Darcy didn't run to help me up or push John away from me. Darcy actually punched John out.

It was like a horrific nightmare almost. Darcy (whom I have never seen hit anything since I've known him) was now punching John with all his might leaving me and Emily to sit here and watched in horror. John, of course, fought back and he was also doing a great deal of damage on Darcy. I knew I had to do something. One, I couldn't stand Darcy getting hit anymore. And two, John did not deserve to be hit by anybody but me.

"Stop it!" I yelled out loud and walked over to Darcy, helping him up on his feet. "I've had it! John, I hope you get it after I say this but I don't want anything to do with you anymore. I don't want to hear your explanation. Not now, not ever. Come on, Will. Let's go."

And that was probably the last time I had said anything civil to John. I helped Darcy to the car. There were scratches and bruises everywhere on Darcy's face and up and down my arms and legs.

When the others saw us from the car, they all asked us what happened. I told them that the story would have to wait 'til later and that we just really needed to get back to our rooms. We did and when security asked us what happened, I told them that we fell into the beach. It was a bad lie but it worked. Jane and Charlie took Anne and Caroline up to their rooms as I said that I wanted to treat Darcy's wounds because it was my fault after all.

We all got into separate elevators and so it was just me and Darcy in one elevator. I looked up at Darcy and smiled. He looked at me and started laughing. I didn't know why we were laughing but we just did. I quieted ourselves and said,

"Thanks, Will."

"One, You called me Will. And two, for what?"

"Well, I'm feeling a little nice tonight so I'll make an exception. And thanks for everything. If it weren't for you, John would still have been all over me. It was very brave of you to get him away of me."

Darcy then looked into my eyes and said in a slow, almost mesmerizing, British voice, he said, "It was a pleasure."

I was taken. I lost my mind for a moment. I reached up and kissed him.

_A/N: Hey! I finally updated! YAY me…just kidding. There will be more to this chapter. I looked over this chapter already so there shouldn't be any more problems than there were before but if there are then please excuse me. _

_NYC was so much fun! We did so much stuff and it was great. _

_I'm going through a rough patch right now so I'm so glad that I can make things better for the main characters. That's really the great part about writing. It's being able to change things for the better whenever you want._

_I wasn't sure if I've used the same quote of the day for another chapter so if I have. I'll change it later. I'll try to get started on chapter 18 right away and I'll see you then. _

_Thanks to all my readers and reviewers and remember to review!_

_P.S. If you think that this is finally it for Lizzy and Darcy, you are so wrong…() _


	18. Understanding a Little Better

**The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.**

**Saint Jerome**

**Chapter XVIII: Understanding a Little Better**

You actually thought that we made out in that elevator, didn't you? I wasn't very descriptive last chapter so in assuming that I actually kissed him passionately on the lips, you would be wrong.

No, I just reached up and pecked him on the cheek because right then, the elevator door opened and we both got out walking to his room.

When we finally got to the room, I told Darcy to sit down while I got a towel, soap, and water to clean him up.

"You know, you have injuries too."

"I know, Darcy, but I fell, you were in a fight. In comparisons, my injuries are actually are a lot less important than yours."

"But look, I'm not in the hospital yet so why don't I look at your cuts first."

We both kept on insisting until I just sat Darcy down and started cleaning his cuts. You would think that this would be a happy moment between us but in the middle of the silence that the both of us shared I started crying.

"What's the matter?" Darcy asked me as tears streamed down my face.

"Nothing really, don't you mind me." That was a down right lie but people lie when they are trying to be polite, right?

"You wouldn't be crying if you were fine, Bennet. Tell me, please?" he asked me sweetly.

"It just hit me now that I no longer have a boyfriend."

"Well that just means that you're becoming a little bit slow tonight."

I laughed at the comment. "Why don't you have a girlfriend, Darcy?" I do admit that that was a question out of the blue but I wanted to know. We have known each other for a year after all.

"What?"

"Why don't you have a girlfriend? I mean, I've seen you at school and it seems like the whole entire female population (except for the professors, of course) has a thing for you." That really is a true fact. Every time I walk to with him, all the girls that we past smile seductively and purred out his name. It sends a chill down my back but I'm basically fine with that.

"You don't have to give me a story or anything." There was still no answer from him. I stood up from the bed, wiped the tears off my face and walked to the bathroom. "I guess you don't want to talk about this. Well, if anything, you should go to sleep. It's been a long day."

I came back into the room with some ice that I had found next to the mirror. Darcy was sitting with his legs on the bed next the nightstand. He was still staring at his hands, seemingly thinking about something that I did not dare ask.

I went over to the bed and sat down beside him, holding out his arm and placing the ice on the bruised parts. I looked at him but he was still staring at his hands. "I'm sorry."

He finally looked up at me. He looked into my eyes and asked what I was sorry about. I told him that I was very sorry if I had asked him a personal question that he didn't want to answer. I was emotional and right then, I didn't really have anybody else but Darcy who had come to my rescue was sitting there thinking about something that must have hurt him so much that he wasn't about to talk about it. I might be thinking too much but that was the truth. That was really what was going through my mind then.

I reached over and wrapped my arms around his neck. I started crying repeating that I was sorry. I cried silently and Darcy reached up and patted my shoulder. His arms slowly guided me so that I lay down on the bed and the blanket was pulled over me while he was still sitting.

"Two years ago, I was a sophomore at Yale and I had a girlfriend named Alice. I was crazy about her. I was so much in love. I thought that she felt the same way about me too. My relatives saw that I was going overboard with Alice and they warned me about her. They clearly didn't approve of her, but I didn't care. I loved her and she loved me and there was nothing in the world that would change that.

"By spring break, I knew that I wanted to marry Alice. I had the ring and the proposal planned out and everything. I was walking on clouds for the whole week. Anne noticed and finally forced the secret out of me. She was horrified. I was suppose to be the calm and non-impulsive member of the family and she couldn't believe that I was going to go through was that.

"I was suppose to not care, but it was Anne. She was my sister and, unlike my parents, I really cared and needed her approval and opinion. But I had my way in the end; she said that if this was what I wanted to do then she was okay with it.

"I told Alice that I was going to meet her at the bar where we first met. She must have forgotten because I waited and called her for an hour. I walked out of the bar and drove back to school. I wanted to go to her dorm and see if she was sick and was still in her room. I walked to her building but was stopped by a couple who were making out on a bench. I saw that the girl had this thin blond hair just like Alice and wanted to interrupt the couple to see if it was Alice. Of course I was a little sensible then and called Alice's cell once more. It ringed and ringed and ringed and it was proven to be right because the girl on the bench took the phone out of her pocket and answer the phone and I heard Alice's voice on the other line.

'Hi, Will.'

'Alice'

'What's up?'

'We were supposed to meet tonight, remember?'

'Oh, I forgot. I'm so sorry, honey. Can we meet again tomorrow?'

'Yeah, but where were you tonight? I called you a couple of times but you didn't pick up.'

'My phone was on silent. I'm so sorry I missed it.'

'It's ok. What are you doing now? Maybe I can come visit you.'

'Can't, I have a lot of reading to do.' It was a total lie and we both knew but I pleasantly pretended it wasn't so.

"For some reason, the guy that Alice was with turned around towards the direction that I was at and saw me. I couldn't believe who I saw myself. It was Taylor Daniels, my childhood best friend and roommate. Taylor was horrified; he tapped on Alice's shoulder to tell her to turn around. She did, and she looked as if her deepest darkest secret has been revealed. This was true in a sense. I didn't stand to listen to what Alice had to say when she got up to walk to me. I turned and walked away. That was the last time that I saw or spoke to Taylor and Alice.

"I'm still pretty damaged from her since then. After that whole incident, I took up work at _The Serendipity Bakery_ and that's how I met you."

When he finished, we were both silent and stayed still. We were so silent and so still and I feel asleep laying by his side. I dreamt that night, I dreamt that I was in a wedding dress walking down the aisle and Jane was by my side telling me that I would be very happy. I looked on each side of the aisle at the audience and someone caught my eye. It was Darcy sitting in one of the chairs. His face looked happy and sad at the same time. When I saw him, I became hysterical and started yelling. I didn't remember what I said because I started to wake up at that point.

I sat up in a room I did not recognize as my own and immediately saw Darcy at the table eating.

"You're awake." He smiled, eating his strawberry.

"Come and have some breakfast with me." He pointed his fork towards a plate that had a stack of pancakes on it. I walked over and sat down.

"Did Jane call?" I asked, thinking that Jane might have been worried about me not coming back to the room.

"Yeah, she just wanted let you know that John packed up and took the train home this morning."

"Well, that's going to cost him, but very good nonetheless." We ate in silence for a minute until I found the courage to be the first to speak. "Thank you for telling me about Alice. I mean- I didn't mean that it was a good thing about what happened but that it was good that you told me. I'm glad that we're close enough for you to tell me those things but-I guess I kind of forced it out of you- I mean, I'm sorry…I'm ranting now, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Darcy smiled

"Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because it's so much fun watching you go on and on." I made an angry face, picked up a grape from my plate and threw it at him.

The group got together that day just to have fun, hanging by the outside pool and playing loud music in Darcy's room that night. We left New Jersey the next morning and Jane and I packed up all our stuff and drove back to Yale to start yet another year of school. It was exciting like the very first day but this time, I had a different reason to be excited about.

_A/N: Hey everybody! How have you guys been? Good, I hope. Now, I know that this has been a short chapter but I thought that this was a good pace to end the chapter. All I need to figure out is what should happen next. Have any suggestions? I really need them. Please give some! Please! I'm begging you! LOL…I have HSAs next week so I'll be busy studying and the week after that is my 15th birthday! YAY! And finals are after that, so there will be a very long period between this chapter and the next. I hope you guys review…thanks to all the readers and reviews and I'll see you next time!_

_P.S. I forgot to let you guys know but that dream that Lizzy had in this chapter is a little forshadowing for you.  
_


	19. Is There Something Wrong in the World?

**Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it.**

**Russell Baker**

**Chapter XIX: Is There Something Wrong in the World?  
**

The new school year with as much excitement as you would have when you've just adopted a new puppy. (Great comparison, right?) A new school year, new friendships made…and possibly relationships.

"Lizzy," Jane said in her honeyed voice. The voice, which I knew, that she used if she wanted something. "Are you and Will going out?"

"No." I said quite straight forwardly. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you guys are acting a lot friendlier around each other and there was that night in AC that-"

"Jane, I explained it to you already. Nothing happened in that room. Don't get any ideas."

"Will you two ever date?"

"That's for Fate to know and for us to live our lives as they have planned it."

As it turned out, I did start seeing Darcy in a new light. We were a lot friendlier and spent a lot more time together. We also ate out more often than usual.

September went by fast enough. September always goes by fast, I don't know why but they do. So it was then October, which means only one thing … Halloween. Yes, the one holiday where there are really only two choices of clothing for people to pick. It's either (for example) 'witch' or 'slutty witch'. I didn't dress up this year because Halloween isn't my thing.

"Should we do anything this year?"

We were both sitting in the dining hall, eating our lunch, and talking about our day and how Halloween was coming up.

"I don't know. I heard that there's going to be a great Halloween party over at Saybrook but costumes are mandatory." Jane doesn't like dressing up either.

"There is no way am I going to dress up like some crack whore and drink at a college party and will _probably_ sleep with a guy who perhaps has a girlfriend which just so happens to be my relationship pattern these days."

"Ok…"

"And…maybe that girlfriend is fully capable of kicking my ass."

"You're very imaginative about the future." Jane said as she took a sip from her coke.

"It comes with the personality."

"So, are we just staying here on that day?"

"No, I don't know about you but I don't want to stay at home and listen to loud music and partying when I could be somewhere else listening to loud music and partying."

"Hello ladies." Darcy said as he glided over our table from the dining hall door.

"How do you know we're ladies? We could be sluts for all you know." I said back to him. Jane immediately burst out laughing.

"All right, hello sluts…how are you guys today?"

"We're trying to figure out what to do on Halloween." Jane answered.

"There's going to be a party over a Say-"

"Nope, already ruled out."

"Well, how about going to the carnival with Charles and I?"

"Well, that's a thought." I looked at Jane but of course she was far gone at the thought of Charlie.

"Anyways, do you want to come?"

"Yeah, that's sounds fun."

"Good, well I have to go to my next class and we'll talk later about the carnival."

Carnival …that sounds like a lot of fun. Roller coasters and food sounds very exciting.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I was right about not staying in my room when Halloween came around on a Friday. The sun had just begun to set when the loud music started. It gave me a headache. I could go on and on about how I hate the loud music that gave me headaches but the story must go on. Well, the four of us went to the carnival and it was the typical carnival that you could ever imagine. And the games with the prizes that you could never win and the food that you know that you shouldn't eat more than once but eat it anyway.

We got our tickets and when I turned around to pull Jane toward the roller coaster; Jane and Charlie were already walking away.

"Wait…where are you going?" I said quietly sounding like a lost kid.

"Well, you know those two…they're going to spend time together."

"Great couple, aren't they?" I asked just thinking about the future of those two.

Darcy seemed a little hesitant in his answer to my inquiry but he answered in agreement anyway. I don't think I have ever asked him on his thoughts of Jane and Charlie but I'm sure that he would tell me that they are very much in love…I mean, why wouldn't he?

"Well, I guess it's just me and you. What do you want to do first? Unless you want to go off by yourself?" he said, sounding excited.

"No, your companionship is very much appreciated and there is that roller coaster that I've been having my eye on."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

After about two hours of going on all the crazy rides, the two of us were just about to barf.

"I'm so dizzy, Darcy." I said as I did a little twirl. I tend to get a little crazy when I'm hyper or just plain loony.

"I don't think spinning around will help with the dizziness." He laughed as he caught me from falling. "Let's just sit down."

"No, I want to do something."

"Like what?"

"Ummm…" I looked around until I saw something that gave me a childish grin. "Let's ride in the Ferris wheel!" I said as I dragged Darcy toward the big round object.

It was dark out already and you could see the moon in the sky. It was beautiful to watch, especially from up high.

"This is wonderful." I said as I dreamily looked at the moon. Darcy and I were already at the highest point of the wheel.

"Yeah? Well, looks like we're going to be up here for awhile." Darcy said as he looked down as if to find somebody on the ground. I didn't know why he said that.

"I think we should talk." He said suddenly after a short pause.

"About what?" I asked. It was a little awkward being up here with Darcy, but I just want it to be like this for awhile.

"I don't know. What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know." We went back and forth like that for awhile.

"You don't know a lot of things, do you?" Darcy said to stop the repetition.

"I know one thing." I smiled. If anything, this was the one thing I was sure of this whole year. I had finally figured it out. It took me all year, but I've figured it out. Now, readers, this is a real big revelation for me so if it sounds a little cheesy…it probably is.

"What would that be?"

"I know … that there is a very good chance that I will fall madly in love with you." I did it. I confessed about my feelings to a guy whom I have great potential of being friends with and I may have possibly just ruined it with one measly sentence.

There was a pause where Darcy just looked at me. "Are you going to say anything? I mean, I wouldn't mind if you didn't say anything…it would be nice if you would say something. It would probably be a lot less stressful if you would say something." I was definitely freaking out. Darcy was saying my name but I wasn't connecting that into my mind. "I mean I know I'm ranting but I can't really help it if after confessing my feelings, you would just stare off into space."

"Lizzy!" Darcy yelled over my rant.

"What?" I yelled back, still in my panic mode.

He didn't really say anything. He just looked at me and reached over to touch my cheeks.

"Your hands are cold." I whispered.

"I know." He said back. He reached over and kissed me. We kissed good and long. I ran my fingers through Darcy's (or should I start calling him Will?) dark curly hair the whole time even though we started moving down in our box.

We finally got off the wheel and when we were walking away, Will turned back and thanked the man who was operating the wheel.

"No problem, Will." He said back.

"Did you arrange for the Ferris wheel to stop moving?" I asked a little amused.

"The guy owed me a favor." Will said.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

That night, I went back to campus and told Jane about everything that had happened. She was very happy to a point that I just wanted too tell her to forget everything that I had told her.

"I'm just happy for you, Lizzy. You know that."

"And as always, I do. But anyways, you and Charlie seemed to have had a good time together. How did it go?" That was a silly question but Jane's happy expression suddenly fell. Jane was sad and I am for one that would never allow for Jane to be sad.

"What's wrong, Jane?"

"Charlie's going to Australia for a while."

"Why?"

"His parents are making him take an internship there for six months." She said. She lay down on her bed which was opposite mine and just hugged her beloved stuffed monkey. Charlie had given her that monkey for her birthday and Jane cherished it ever since.

"When does he leave?"

"In two weeks."

"What? That's like telling you the last minute, considering you're his girlfriend."

"Yeah well, he told me that we were going to do something right before he leaves."

"Well, spend as much time as you can because you won't be seeing him for another six months. That's a very long time once you think about it."

"Yeah."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Will and I were now spending lots of time together. It did help that we had most of our elective classes together. I just felt so great just being able to spend time with him. He made me very happy whenever I was with him. He told me every time that we were together that he loved me and that made my heart swell. But Will told me something a week later that felt like Fate was against us.

"I'm going away for awhile, Lizzy." Will finally confessed over dinner.

"Let me guess, you're going to be going for an internship in Australia?"

"Actually, my parents want me to intern at the company over in California for a few months." Will said, sounding a little guilty.

"How long will you be gone?" I asked as I played around with my spaghetti, avoiding eye contact because I knew that if I looked at Will, I would start crying.

"Six months, I should be back when Charles gets back from Australia. So you wouldn't have to wait for us for too long."

"You mean Jane and I wouldn't have to wait too long?"

"Right." Will again sounded a little hesitant in his answer, I wondered if something was wrong but I didn't really bother in asking.

"When do you leave?"

"In three weeks."

"So you _have_ to go?" I looked up at him. All these months, I have never realized how much I really loved him.

"Yeah, but I'll be back in no time so you don't have anything to worry at all."

"Well I'm not going to worry." I gave him a smile that lightened up the mood a little.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

For the next week, I spent a lot of time with Will. Jane tried to be with Charlie as much as she could before he left. The day before Charlie left for Australia, Jane went out to have lunch with him. Will was in New York to pack up his stuff before he came back to pack his stuff here. I just spent the time alone in my room catching up on some reading for my classes.

I was reading when I heard the front door slammed that made me jump. I walked out to the living room and saw Jane lying on the couch crying, her eyes were blood shot red and she was shaking.

"Jane?" I had asked. I was worried that something bad might've happened to her. "What's the matter? What happened?"

"Charlie's broke up with me." She said simply. When she said that, a million questions popped into my head that I wanted the answer to. Why? How could he? Did Will know about this?

"I don't understand." I said lamely. Seeing Jane crying, lead tears to also form in my own eyes.

Through streams of tears, Jane recounted how Charlie and she had got together to say their goodbyes before he left for Sydney for the internship. And that was when Charlie went into a speech about how their relationship was not working and that they should just be friends.

"Did he give you any explanations as to why your relationship isn't working?" This isn't like Charlie, what exactly going on?

"No" Jane started crying some more. It breaks my heart to see her in such a state. I tried to comfort her some more but nothing will do.

"So, is he gone?"

"He left for the airport after our 'talk'."

"What now?" I asked. But Jane didn't answer; she just got up and ran for the bathroom. I've noticed for the past month that Jane has been acting like that. I always asked her if she was okay but she said that she was fine every time so I didn't pay much thought to it. Now, I'm worried. I walked to the bathroom and knocked on the door.

"Jane, are you alright?"

"I don't know. I don't know what's wrong?"

"Do you need to see a doctor?" I asked. It then hit me of all the things I had learned in high school health class. "Jane, when was your last period?"

"What kind of question is that?" Jane asked back.

"Just answer." I said urgently. I hoped that her answer wasn't the one that I didn't want to hear.

"I don't know. A couple of weeks-"

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

The next day, I went with Jane to the doctors and it was confirmed that her vomiting and stomach aches did not result from bad food but because she was five weeks pregnant. I remembered that Jane smiled with all the politeness in the world at the doctors and nurses but when we got into the car, she cried.

"It'll be okay, Jane. It'll all work out for the better."

"No it won't, it's over. It's all over." This was not like Jane. Even you, the readers, would know that. Jane was not a person to have a negative mindset on things but this was the only time that I have ever seen her so down. It pained me to see her like that.

I comforted Jane and drove us both home. I wanted to call Will to talk about this. I couldn't call him the day before because his phone was off but I just want to talk to him.

Jane said that she felt tired and that she was going to lie down. I went over to my laptop and found that I had one new email to check. I checked the sender … it was Will. I got really happy but at the same time wondering why he had sent me an email instead of a phone call. It read:

_Charles,_

_I am writing to you about Jane. Caroline called me and told me that you had bought an engagement ring and that you were going to propose to Jane. I completely disapprove of this decision and so does you sister. I know that Jane is a very sweet girl but she is not the girl that you should marry. Please remember me as your best friend and what had happened with me and Alice, and heed this advice and stop this relationship before it can go any further. I hope that you take my words into great consideration and break it up with Jane._

_Truly,_

_Will Darcy_

I read this in awe. Why was this email sent to me? I figured that Will pressed the wrong button and that the email was sent to everybody on his address list. I couldn't believe what I have on my computer screen. It was Will. He was responsible for Charlie breaking up with Jane. He was the one responsible for Jane now having the decision of whether or not to keep that life within her.

I thought that he had changed but he was no different than when I first met him. I sat there in the living room, tears coming down my face. I felt much betrayed; how could Darcy do this to me?

My phone ranged beside me and the caller ID told me that it was Darcy. I pondered on the idea of picking up but I decided not to. I didn't want to talk or see him right now…or ever.

_A/N: Hey everybody! I hope you like this chapter but I'm sure that you guys are pissed that I got Lizzy and Darcy together and have her hate him again in one chapter but that's how the story had to be. I mean, can she really still love the one person who might have possible make Charlie leave Jane? And yep, Jane is pregnant, I don't know why but I have a feeling that I didn't quite develop that part of the story very well. Please tell me if the story's going too fast from the way that I am writing it. I think my writing (in school also) have possibly gotten worse._

_Well, anyways…finals are next week so I think the chapter might come out in like a week and a half. I tend to slack off and type when I have major tests. It keeps me from studying! _

_This is chapter 19 so the next chapter will be the last chapter of Part One of this story. I'll continue it with this story instead of making it a different one as to make it easier for you guys but I can tell you that Lizzy and Darcy do end up together in the end…whenever that will be. I'll just torture them a little bit longer. It would only take a pregnant Jane, five years, and a few more cousins.  
_

_Thanks for all of you that read and/or reviewed and I'm so happy that I only need 10 more reviews in order to reach 100 so I thank all of you (readers too) for helping me out. Until next time…bye!_


	20. And The Show Sadly Must Go on

**There's a lot to be said for self-delusionment when it comes to matters of the heart.**

**Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider**

**Chapter XX: And the Show (Sadly) Must Go On**

So where was I? Oh yes, Jane's pregnant and Darcy's responsible for Charlie leaving her. This new revelation was not something that I suspected of having this week. I've been ignoring all of Darcy's calls and approaches. What awful feeling he would have for finding himself in the dark? Why didn't I just confront him? Why? Because I love him and if I confronted him, it would mean that I have truly fallen for yet another inconsiderate jerk.

I haven't told Jane about the email yet; she's been through enough and doesn't need something like this to send her into another spiral. I don't know what was more pathetic, the fact that Darcy had to send an email to tell Charlie to break up with Jane or that Charlie actually listened. Either way, it was low that those actions were ever taken.

Three days have past and Jane was out for a class that night. There was nobody at home with me, and I was in the middle of my math homework when there was a knock on the door. I looked up but didn't want to open it. I was too lazy. The knocking didn't magically stop as I has expected, in fact it became even louder and faster.

"Lizzy!" somebody yelled. "Lizzy! Open up, I know you're here." It was Darcy knocking. That just gives me even more reason as to not open the door. What would he have to say to me that would change the way that things are right now? Nothing, I said to myself, nothing would change it at all.

"Nobody's home." I called out.

"Please open up, Lizzy. We need to talk." That was true, we did need to talk and I guessed that this was the right time to do it while Jane was out.

I walked over and opened the door. Will slowly walked in and sat himself on the couch. I sat opposite him and there we sat. There was a long pause where neither of us spoke a word to each other.

"Are you going to say anything?" I said sarcastically but all the more calmly. "I mean, if you're going to make me open the door for you to talk then you might as well talk."

"Ummm…" Darcy was speechless and it pained me when I saw him like that but there was that one part of my mind that reminded me of what he did. Absolutely unforgivable.

"Why are you here, Will?"

"Why have you been avoiding me?' he asked with all the ounces of love that he had for me.

"It doesn't matter anymore." I whispered.

"Just tell me the problem." Darcy said desperately. "Just tell me, tell me the problem so I can fix it."

"Nothing you do can change it."

"Then tell me what I've done because right now I have no idea why you haven't been returning my calls and ignoring me during class."

"You want to know what's wrong? Tell me, Will, why Charlie broke up with Jane?"

"That has nothing to do with this. It was Charles's personal choice and we can't fix it."

"His personal choice? I don't think that that was why, Will. I think it's because you made an interference and stopped Charlie from proposing to Jane."

"How did you-"

"You were never good with emails, Will. If you were, then you wouldn't have sent everybody a carbon copy of the email you sent to Charlie."

"You're right. I did send that email and I meant every word." So he finally admitted it.

"Why did you do it?"

"Because I had to stop Charles from making a grave mistake."

"But did you think of me when you wrote that email?" Tears were already beginning to flow down my face. "Did you even consider for a moment how this might affect you and me?"

"I thought nobody would be able to find out."

"Well, secret's out, Will. Jane is broken and it's up to me to pick the pieces back up." I said sarcastically. That was my role in this world isn't it? Picking up the pieces and hoping that life might be back to normal.

"But can you tell me that I have said anything wrong?"

"Yes, for your information, Jane is very much in love with Charlie. She loves him very dearly."

"How can you tell if those were her true feelings?"

"Will, just look at her behaviors around Charlie. She cares for him very much."

"That's not how I see it."

"You've been in love. How can you not see that those two are in love?" I asked. If anything, he was in love with me, right?

"The girls I've been in love with have only been with me for my money. I just don't want that for Charles-" It was too late for Darcy to take back his words now. He's said it and I couldn't have been anymore hurt by it.

"So let me get this straight. Our relationship? I'm either after your money or you're not in love with me. That's great. That's very great to hear and I thank you for finally telling me how you really feel."

"No, Lizzy, that's not what I mean. I didn't mean that."

I went up to him and slapped him. He fell quiet and looked at me with the utmost guilt.

"Leave, Will. Leave and just know that from this day forward, you and I are no longer lovers…and no longer friends."

Darcy didn't try to argue. He knew that it was futile to even try to patch things up. It was sad to watch him leave but I knew that this was all for the better. I knew that I wouldn't talk to him again for a long time.

Darcy left for California in the next days while I just sat at home and stared out the window. Jane felt that there was something wrong but I wouldn't want to have her heart break anymore. As I sat there, I wondered and asked myself why I hadn't told Darcy that Jane was pregnant. I had no reason to tell him really.

Jane didn't want to tell anyone about the baby anyway. She thought that having the pity and sympathy upon her would be too much. She had told me once that telling Charlie about her condition and that they were then together, she said that she didn't want to be that person that wanted to patch things up with a baby or a marriage. If the relationship didn't have love in it, then she would rather raise the kid on her own.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I was walking through the halls to my Spanish class when I stopped to look at a poster that was on a glass window.

It said: THINKING ABOUT STUDYING ABROAD? LOOK NO MORE! STUDY IN LONDON, ENGLAND AND ENJOY WHAT ENGLAND HAS TO OFFER…..ADMISSION PAPERS IN ROOM 202B…APPLY BEFORE CHRISTMAS.

Interesting, I've always wanted to study in Europe. Maybe this is an opportunity that needed to be experienced. Later that day, I went back to the dorm to find Jane staring out the bedroom window. She seemed sad, that has been her usual mood for some time now.

"Jane? What's the matter?" I asked as I sat down beside her.

"I want to leave, Lizzy?" she said almost absentmindedly.

"Leave to go where."

"I just want to go somewhere where nobody knows me and start a new life."

"You can't be serious, Jane."

"But I am serious, I'm going to have a baby and I want to start a new life. It's only fair."

I tried pleading with her but it was no use. Jane was dead set about starting a new life and transferring to another college to continue her studies. I had to eventually give up because there was no way of stopping her. I had to make a decision and this was what I wanted in the end.

"So, where are we going?" I asked her.

"What?"

"I mean, where are we going if we're going to live somewhere else?" Jane once again wore a shocked expression.

"I don't understand."

"I mean that if you're going then there's really no point for me to be here, is there?"

"But you have Yale…you have this school to keep you here."

"I can live without this school. I'm sure that I can live without the fact that I dropped out of an Ivy League education, but the one thing that I won't be able to live with is that I'm going to let you leave and start a new life with your baby without me to help take care of you."

"But this would completely interfere with your life, Lizzy. I can't prevent you from having a life with my troubles."

"Actually, it wouldn't interfere at all. I mean, I will help you take care of your kid and have time for other things. My name wouldn't be Lizzy Bennet if I couldn't multi-task my love life and responsibilities at the same time." I smiled at Jane. She gave me a soft smile back.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. "But I don't know where to go. I just know that I want to leave."

"Well, I just saw something today that we could consider."

"What?"

"What do you think about studying in Europe?"

"That is a great idea."

It was all done in a month or so. We were off to Europe in February. You might think that with Jane being pregnant that she wouldn't be able to keep up with her studies. Jane was a smart girl; she'll figure it out.

So I'm writing this now (with Jane sleeping besides me) on the plane, the plane that has its sights on London, England. There Jane and I will study for a year. I look back to the very beginning of this story and only have one thing to say. This is one crappy love story that I'm forcing you guys to read through. Love hasn't been very kind to me but I'm sure that I'll be lucky one day. And hopefully, Jane will be too.

The end… for now.

_A/N: And we have finally made it to the 20th chapter! Hello…how are you guys? I hoped you guys liked this chapter. I certainly did. Now you know that this isn't the end, right? There's more, I promise. Now I need you guys to review to tell me what you thought about this chapter and story for that matter. Please? I mean, I have seven more reviews to go before I hit 100. Getting 100 reviews would be like the best birthday present ever._

_Yesterday was my last day of school (I'm finally a sophomore!), so I should have a ton of free time. But there's one problem, I'll be going out of the country for a whole month, from June 27th to August 7th, and wouldn't be able to update. So there'll be that time gap._

_Anyways, I thank all of you for reading and for reviewing and I will see you all next time._

_P.S. I would love it if you could give me any suggestions on the story. Thanks!_


	21. Our New Lives

**Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back; a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.**

**Anais Nin**

**Chapter XXI: Our New Lives**

We got off the plane that February and realized that this was not New York or Connecticut anymore. We got our luggage and took a taxi to our new living place. It was a small apartment that Jane's parents had gotten awhile ago. It was moderately small and comforting. Looking at it gave you this sense of easiness that makes you just want to close your eyes. Everything was peaceful, it was a shame it was often empty. It was a shame that nobody could enjoy the peace more. But Jane and I were here and we were determined to fix the place suitable for a new life.

"This is such a nice place. It's a wonder I don't visit this place very much."

"Well, we're here now. We might as well enjoy the year here, huh?"

The first week at the new apartment was hectic to say the least. There were many things that Jane's parents didn't do to the place that needed to be done, like unpacking all the utensils and kitchen stuff. It did make sense though that none of these things have been done because my aunt and uncle haven't traveled much after my uncle's heart attack, so they stayed put in New York and there they will stay. How did Jane's parents react to the news that she was pregnant and that their daughter was going away? They accepted it calmly, to our great surprise, and even offered to help. I didn't understand why they would do that but maybe it was because they had raised Jane to be free and wanted her to be able to make her own choices, choose her own path.

Anyways, school started later that week. It wasn't harder really; it felt like learning at Yale. There was nothing to worry about.

Except, there was one thing that had me worried, it was Jane. She was too happy; too happy to be normal even. I mean, she got dumped by her boyfriend and now she was pregnant. It was strange that she can still act so normal.

Of course, there was that one part of me that just wanted to have everything back to the way things were. Back to when Charlie and Jane were still together and back to the way that Will…

Will? I didn't think that I was forgiving enough as to start calling him Will again. No, I wasn't. I was still pissed. Darcy had hurt me in a way no other person can.

Anyways, back to the present. School was fine and Jane was also managing fine too. I always asked her if the work was putting too much stress on her.

"You know, Jane. Stress isn't very good for the baby." I reminded her for the eight millionth time one day.

"I know, Lizzy. But I'm not stressed whatsoever. I love reading out loud the assigned texts to the baby and it's not like I have a lot of stuff to do." That was true. I would come home from class everyday to hear Jane read books out loud, whether it was _Anna Karenina_ in Russian or her biology textbook. Every time I saw her like that, Jane becoming a great and loving mother would come to mind. I was happy that she was able to start a new life.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Jane, don't you think that we should go see the doctor." I asked her one morning at breakfast.

"Well…"

"Jane, you're five months pregnant. Even I kind of feel irresponsible for not taking you. Just look at you." You could tell that Jane was showing but since Jane gains weight so gradually with the growing belly, people just thought that she was getting fat.

"You're right."

"I'm always right." I smiled.

We went to the doctors that weekend and Jane got a check up on her pregnancy.

"How far along are you in your pregnancy, Miss Bennet?" Dr. Taylor said. The woman was tall and liked to wear dark colors to highlight her bright red hair. She was kind and very polite when it came to asking questions.

"Five months." Answered the nervous Jane; this was her first child after all.

"And this is your first time to the doctors?"

"During this pregnancy…yes."

"Ok, well, let's see if you're okay." Dr. Taylor smeared some sort of gel onto Jane's belly and showed us the ultra sound after a couple of minutes. "There, I see the twins are developing finely."

"What?" Jane and I both said.

"Twins?" I asked.

"Yes, and from what I can tell. They're going to be a boy and a girl."

"WOW…" I said. This was a miracle; twins would make everything so much brighter, right?

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

About three months later, Jane and I still managed to live and not die from stress or anything. Jane was fine in the fact that she was finally coming to terms with her pregnancy. She seemed so happy that it masked her pain of having to raise her children without Charlie by her side helping her.

Between school and my job at a restaurant, Jane and I have been preparing for the twins. Their nursery was just how Jane wanted it to look like.

I was at the restaurant, receiving orders when my phone ranged. It was Jane.

"What's up, Jane?"

"Lizzy, my water just broke." Oh my god, she was a month early. Dr. Taylor said that this might happen but why didn't I give it more thought?

"Ok, where are you right now?" I asked urgently.

"At home. Lizzy, what should I do?" Jane was panicking.

"Jane, calm down. I'll be at the house in five minutes and I'll talk you to the hospital."

Approximately eight hours late, Jane gave birth to twins. I left out the gory details because I would assume that you people really wouldn't want to read that, would you?

They were beautiful. Jane, through sweats and all, smiled proudly to know that those were hers that they were cleaning and wrapping in a blanket. I got to hold the girls baby and I looked into her eyes. She had Jane's eyes and Charlie's nose, but she had that sparkle in her eyes that reminded me of myself. She would grow up to be very beautiful.

"Do you have names for these babies?" Dr. Taylor asked.

Jane and I looked at each other and shook our heads.

"That's fine. Just think about. We'll call them the twins until you decide." And then she left.

"So, what should name them?" Jane asked.

"This should be your decision, Jane. These are your kids."

"But you have helped me so much. As far as I can tell, you might be as much as a mother to these kids as I will be. Tell me, what's your favorite name for a girl?"

"Christina Jacquelyn, but you don't have to take it."

"I love it and for this boy, I think I will name him 'Jack'."

"Jack?"

"As in _Titanic_…it seems brave and confident or comic all in one. It's a winner." I laughed at that, it would be like Jane to make a serious decision light and fluffy.

"Christina Jacquelyn and Jake Bennet it is."

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I wanted to stay with Jane but she wanted to have some rest. It has been a long for her after all. I was alone in the hospital with no one to talk to. I eventually found my way to the nursery. I came up to the big glass window and saw rows and rows of babies. My heart swelled when I saw all those cute babies.

I started speaking gibberish for a moment. You know, baby talk, because obviously the babies will naturally understand what you're saying. It was after a while that I noticed that someone was laughing beside me. I turned to look at the person who was possibly laughing at me. The person that I saw was tall and handsome. He was so…what was the word? Breathtaking, that's the word.

"What's so funny?" I asked him, giving him an odd look.

"Nothing."

"Come on, tell me. It must have been something truly funny for you to laugh like that."

"It's just that I never thought that someone as beautiful as you are, would be talking gibberish to babies."

"Are you hitting on me?"

"Maybe…" he smirked.

I smiled and silently turned back to the babies.

"Wait…aren't you going to say anything to that?" he said, utterly surprised by my silent comment.

"Why would I?"

"I don't know. Normally, a girl would say something to that. At least, I figured you would at least make a comment to what I'm going to say next."

"What would that be?"

"Would you like to go out for drinks with me tonight?" he asked sheepishly.

"People always assume that I'm older than I really am. I'm underage." I laughed.

"You are?" He said, seemingly taken aback.

"I'm 20."

"Well, the legal drinking age is 18 here. So, you're fine."

"I don't know. There's just something about going out for drinks with a complete stranger that I know nothing about. It's a little creepy, not to mention dangerous."

"Oh, well how about dinner then?" he asked, once more hoping to get a more positive answer.

I looked at the adorable babies and realized my answer when I saw that all the babies were smiling.

"Okay, let's go."

"Really?" he asked with an expression of surprise once more. "Why?"

"I blame the babies. They make people toxic."

Disclaimer: P&P is obviously not mine, it belongs to the fantabulous Jane Austen and I hope that you won't sue me for writing about what I love. That would be cruel of you. And also, the last line of this chapter was completely ripped off from Grey's Anatomy. That belongs to the one and only Shonda Rhimes.

_A/N: Hey everybody! I'm sorry for the short chapter but I felt that this might be a good place to stop. I didn't want for you guys to wait for over a month for a new chapter when it's already been two weeks. Ok, so how did you like this chapter? I felt this chapter was too general, you know? Like a filler chapter. But I did introduce a new character, you'll find out the guy's name…well in the next chapter._

_I did mean what I said that it will be five years before Lizzy sees Darcy again. (It'll probably be that many chapters too.) I want the twins be that age too. _

_You might think that Christina Jacquelyn and Jack are odd names but there's a funny story behind it. I was going to NYC with my class and we were on a bus for a couple of hours. I was sitting with my friends and I tried thinking up of new ideas for this story. My two guy friends, CJ and John, were also contributing ideas and they wanted the twins to be named after them regardless of gender. John changed the name to Jack when I told him that John was Lizzy's ex. Ok, not that funny but it's still quirky._

_Anyways, I hope you enjoy this story so far and that I haven't shoo you away with my bad writing and grammar skill and lack of an imagination.  Thanks to all who have read and review and I hope you give me your comments of what you think. Bye!_

_P.S. I added something to the end as to why Lizzy refused to have drinks with Richard. Thanks for informing me that the drinking age in England is 18. Thank you._


	22. Dr Richard Williams Richard III

**A man on a date wonders if he'll get lucky. The woman already knows.**

**Monica Piper**

**Chapter XXII: Dr. Richard Williams Richards III**

So, where was I? Oh, right, my dinner with the strange (but handsome) guy I met at the hospital. He may turn out to a serial killer but I'm putting on money that he's not.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch your name." I said, taking a bite out of my steak.

"I don't remember giving any." He said.

There was a short pause before I replied, "And? Am I not to know your name?"

"Hmm… I don't feel like giving out names today." He smiled. And we kind of left it at that. I mean, what was I supposed to say to that? Besides, I think it adds to a little intrigue and mystery, don't you think? But now that I was not going to learn his name (like he was going to kill me if he told me), what should I call him? Should I give him a nickname yet? Probably not. I'll give him a fake name then. How about…Andy? He looked like an Andy.

"Okay…well, let's talk about something else then."

"Like?"

"The weather." I confirmed.

Andy started going into this whole fit about talking about the weather. Something about how talking about the weather might be the most boring subject to talk about. No, there I beg to differ; talking about light bulbs is the most boring subject ever.

"If you want, you can ask me something else." I smiled. He looked very sweet when he was frustrated.

Am I ready yet? Am I ready to truly start a new life? Darcy stopped emailing a few weeks before we left for England. I never answered those emails. He must've given up hope. Should I do that too?

"Okay, where are you from?" he asked, relieved that we weren't going to talk about the weather.

"New York City."

"So you're not from around here?"

"No, just moved here with my cousin to finish college."

"And how do you like England so far?"

"I love it here. The culture is so wonderful and the people (especially the guys here) are extremely-"

"Good-looking?" Andy asked with the look of hope on his face.

"Charming." I corrected. "And cute too."

"What? You seem a little disappointed." I laughed.

"It's not that." he defended. "But have you actually known an English guy before?"

"Actually I have. (At least I think he was English. He had the accent.) He was tall, handsome…" I paused, thinking of what else I could say. What else could I say about Will Darcy? Could I say that I loved him? Surely that would be inappropriate. Could I say that I loathed him? Then Andy would ask why.

"…He was just a man, flawed and all."

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know." I smiled at him, eyes almost brimming with tears.

There was a short pause where I silently wiped my tears. I think Andy understood that this was a touchy subject. After a while, we went back to talking. I told him about my new godchildren. Personally, I would rather have CJ and Jack call me their aunt but if you want to be politically correct…. I was having a really fun time. I don't remember having so much fun on a date before. We laughed and joked and talked and talked. Typical, but I felt some chemistry between us. It scared me, really.

It was late when we left the restaurant and I was tired. Andy offered to take us somewhere for coffee. I wanted to go but I had classes the next day and work. I declined. (The mental image of all those babies frowning at my decision didn't really put me to sleep that night.)

"This is it." I told him, looking at my apartment. We slowly walked up the steps.

"Sorry we couldn't get coffee tonight." I said, stopping at the front door with the keys in my hand.

"That's okay." Andy smiled. Seriously, do you think Andy is a good name for this guy? Suddenly, he doesn't look like an 'Andy' anymore. Actually, he reminded me of somebody else.

He waited until I had closed the door behind me before he started his way back to his car. I stood in the hallway in silence. There was something that I had forgotten to do…something important. That's it!

"Hey!" I ran out of the apartment. Andy (I should really find out his name) turned around and looked at me as we came face to face.

I stood there, quiet, trying to catch my breath. (I was never really a runner.)

"What?" He asked, wondering why I had called him.

I looked up at him (he was really tall), reached up and kissed him.

"Thanks for the dinner." I said as I finally let go to get some air.

"No problem." He laughed.

"Bye." I ran back to the door.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I told Jane about my dinner date when I visited her sometime later. We were cooing (I'm sure that's a word) over the smiling twins.

"They really are so adorable." I smiled, holding CJ in my arms.

"I agree but don't try to change the subject, Lizzy." Jane said, walking over and putting Jack in his crib.

"What was the subject anyway?"

"I asked you what you thought (or felt) about this mystery guy. (Or Andy as you so weirdly called him.)"

"I don't know. I don't know enough about him to come to a conclusion."

"That's not the Lizzy I know." Jane laughed.

"Well, I've changed."

"That does seem to be the trend, huh?" Yes, things are changing everyday.

I knelt down to Jane who was sitting on the bed and said, "But I do feel something special about him. I have hope, Jane."

The nurse came and pushed the cribs away, saying that it was time to feed the babies. After the whole feeding thing was done (I couldn't stay in the room, the thought of feeding made me a little queasy. Ewww.), Jane suggested that we get something to eat.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

When I was little, I used to hate cafeteria food at school. They were so greasy! The opposite is true when it came to hospital food. They were extremely healthy! It was disgusting.

"What's wrong, Lizzy?" Jane asked, sipping her orange juice. Orange juice! _Apparently_, drinking soda causes diabetes.

"Why didn't you tell me that the food here are made by health freaks?" I asked, taking a stab at my Caesar salad. The chicken was really dry.

"You're in a hospital, Lizzy. What more did you expect? Better than airplane food."

"That's not true, Jane. They serve real drinks on the plane and there are actually other things than jell-o for dessert."

"There are vending machines around. You could go look for it."

We walked back to the room to let Jane sleep and I started walking around for something sweet. I desperately needed a Sprite. I came up to the two brightly colored metal boxes, wondering what I wanted to get.

"I would suggest you get water. It's healthy for you." Someone said beside me, snapping me out of my daze.

"Sorry, but I've had enough of healthy-" I turned it see who was talking to me and saw that it was him.

He was smiling at me, saying, "Didn't think I would see you again."

"Ditto. But as I was saying…" I shook my Sprite bottle at him. "…I've had enough healthy food in me to last for a week." I started walking.

Playing hard to get hasn't always been my specialty but as they say, 'you should at least try everything once'. (I have no idea why I just said that.)

"Wait," He said, catching up to me. "Is it possible that we could go out sometime later?"

"Maybe, but I might have work or classes."

There was a short pause. "Do you work here?" I said, noticing his outfit. It was a bluish scrub shirt and pants and a white lab coat over it.

"Oh, did I not tell you that? I'm a surgical intern here." He showed me his badge. It had a really goofy picture of him on it and the name "Dr. R. Richards" really popped out.

"So, _Dr. Richards_, is there anything else that I need to know about you?"

"Like what?"

"Like what the 'R.' in your name stood for."

"Richard." He said with a straight face.

I eyed him questioningly. "Richard? So your name is…"

"Richard Williams Richards III. My parents had a _very_ funny sense of humor."

"Apparently your whole family line did. I mean, the third?" I laughed.

We both laughed a little more before going into Jane's room.

"Hi, Jane. Look who I found…." Jane and Richard (I was so off, 'Andy'?) shook hands and greeted each other. Later, Jane told me that she thought Richard to be very cute. But in the meantime, after Richard and Jane chatted for a few minutes, I told them that it was time for me to go to work. Richard offered to walk me out.

"So, you never did answer my question." Richard said, pushing the button for the elevators to come down.

"What question?"

"About whether or not you would like to have dinner again with me." We both got into the elevator that opened then.

"I told you, it really depends on the day."

"Okay… I get it." He said, losing his smile.

"Get what?"

"Look, if you didn't want to go out with me then you should say so, you didn't have to work your way around it."

"You don't think that I want to go out with you?" I said in disbelief. I did after all kiss this guy on our first date, right? It wasn't a fragment of my imagination?

The elevator doors opened to the ground floor, I got out and started walking in a huff. Richard called me to wait but I didn't stop. He finally caught up to me and told me that he was sorry.

"Sorry for what? I mean, if you want to believe something like that then it must be the truth, right?" I said, sarcastically.

"I really am sorry, I just thought…"

"I understand but I kissed you, Richard, shouldn't that say something?"

"Oh, you did?" He said, seeming to finally believe me. He gave me smirk and shrugged.

I stood on my toes and kissed him. "Did that jogged your memory?"

"It did." With that I started leaving for the door.

"Wait," Richard called. "How would I find you again?"

"You know where Jane is, right? Ask her." I smiled. I went to work very happy that day.

_A/N: I'M BACK! Sorry the update took so long, I didn't really like the version that I wrote on the plane so I re-wrote the chapter. This was actually two chapters combined when I realized that it was a little too short._

_So, how did you like this chapter? No, Richard isn't Wickham. That was John, in a way. Richard is..., you guessed it, Colonel Fitzwilliam. That's how Lizzy will be able to meet Darcy again. Yes, Richard and Lizzy will date, for a long time too._

_I've been thinking up of titles for this story and I have three options for you guys that I hope you will help me pick. It's either 'Complications' (which used to be the title before 'Grey's Anatomy') or 'Moments of Endearments' or 'Moments of Lunacy and Confusion'. Which ones do you like better? You may think that they're stupid but it feels right._

_Thanks to all my reviewers and readers so far, and for not killing me for not updating. And thanks for putting up with my writing too. Keep on reviewing please! See you next time._


	23. The Ring That I Received

**A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love.**

**Pearl Buck**

**Chapter XXIII: The Ring That I Received**

_Five years later…._

Time had past. During that time, not many things have changed. Jane and I still lived in England and I still dated Richard.

The twins started school last year and they seemed to love it. I remembered I liked it when I started out but that may be just me. They're happy but sometimes, they would ask about their dad. At what age do you think a child would be able to handle the truth? I assumed that four was too young of an age, huh? I thought so, that was why I told them that when they were ready, they would understand everything.

Jane now worked as a teacher and she loved her job and her students. She seemed happy but I knew that behind her smile, she was longing for Charlie. I really hoped that Jane finds love again but it seemed that I was the only one lucky right now.

Richard and I dated ever since that day. With our hectic schedule, (with him being a surgeon and me being a teacher myself) it was amazing that we stayed together for that long. I was happy, truly happy. Richard took all my worries away and made me forget who I really was and what my past was like and made me feel good. Was he _the one_? I certainly thought so. It almost seemed too real to be true, almost seemed unbelievable.

I had forgotten about the times at Yale. There was nothing left to remember, but I was sure that Jane would disagree. She wasn't the kind of person that would forget something so drastic in her life. No, the many months that we spent in Connecticut was a part of our lives that Jane would never let herself forget. She would loose all hope if she did.

"What's going to happen tonight, Lizzy?" Jane asked, sitting on my bed. I was looking at my closet.

"I'm going to dinner with Richard, you know that."

"I do know that. What I was really asking was… when do you think Richard's going to propose?" Jane paused to look at my shock face.

"Jane! Now, why would you ask something like that?

"Oh, come on, Lizzy. You two have been dating for _five_ _years_, not five months, five years. He's going to ask any day."

"I can wait longer if it's necessary."

"Yeah," Jane said, sounding unconvinced. "But seriously, if he asked, what would you say?"

"I don't know. Actually, I do know but it wouldn't be right if you knew before he did." Jane whined a little more about wanting to know but I insisted.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

That night, Richard took us to our favorite restaurant.

"Do you remember how we met?" He asked as we sipped our wine.

"Of course, you were laughing at me for talking to the babies at the nursery." I smiled.

"I remember thinking that meeting you was too good to be true."

"I'm not an alien, Richard."

"But the chance of me meeting somebody like you again is pretty slim."

"I'm that unique, huh?" I laughed.

"Absolutely." We shared a moment. You know, those moments where two people both smiled and just looked into each other's eyes for a moment. Cheesy but romantic at the same time.

"Richard?"

"Hmm?"

"You do know that next week's my birthday, right?"

"Of course I do, we're going to dinner that day."

"And?"

"And then I'll take you home. I have surgery the next morning, remember?"

"Must've slipped my mind." I really thought that he could've had somebody cover for him. I guess that was a 'no'.

"Don't be mad, Lizzy."

"I'm not mad. I guess that's the life of a surgeon, right?"

"You understand."

"I always understand." I smiled.

Live music started to play and Richard invited me to a dance. We both went and took dance lessons together once for this fundraiser for the hospital last year. It was a lot of fun.

It seemed as if we had gotten better, considering we didn't step on each other's foot or fell down. We danced there on the floor in our favorite restaurant, the place where we ate for our first date. We danced there peacefully, smiling. I loved him, that was all to it. I loved the man that I was dancing with.

I looked at Richard, who had his eyes closed, swaying to the sounds. "Richard?" I whispered.

He opened his eyes and smiled. I tilted my head up and kissed him softly on the lips. Richard looked surprised and asked me why I had done that out of the blue. I kissed him again and told him that I loved him.

"I love you too, Lizzy." And there we danced till the music stopped playing all together.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

When my 25th birthday came around, I was given the surprise of my life. The day started normal enough. Jane and the twins woke me up with breakfast in bed and gave me flowers. Then I went to work, got off at five, got home, and took a shower.

You know, I thought 25 would be a very important age. It was almost like turning 18, better yet, turning 21. But for some reason, turning 25 today didn't feel as important as I thought it would be.

When Richard took me to dinner earlier that day, he could almost tell that I wasn't all that happy about being one year older. I mean, who would?

"What's wrong, Lizzy?"

"Nothing, it's just that I thought something special would happen today."

"You're having dinner with me, what can be more special than that?"

"Uh, winning the lottery?" We laughed. "But no… I don't know really, it's just a feeling that I have."

"I'm sorry if you don't get your surprise today, Lizzy."

"Oh, don't be, Richard. Shouldn't we being going? You don't want to be so tired for your surgery that you're not focused. I wouldn't want to be responsible for you killing somebody."

"Ok, let's go home."

When we got back to my apartment, I told Richard that I was fine and that he could go back to his place and get some sleep.

"No, it's your birthday; I should walk you to the door. It's the least I could do for you.

We walked up the steps. When I opened the door, the place inside was pitched black.

"That's weird." I told Richard. I reached for the light switch and flicked it on. The room lighted up and I was surprised to see many people jump out of nowhere, yelling 'Surprise!'

"Happy Birthday, Honey." My mom said, hugging and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I completely had no idea about this. My parents, aunts and uncles, even Monica flew in just to visit me. You wouldn't believe how happy I was. Turned out, Richard lied about the surgery. He stayed and all of us partied for the rest of the night. It was an amazing opportunity for everyone to meet CJ and Jack. Monica, Jane, and I talked and talked and that allowed for all of us to catch up on everything that we had missed.

After in hour or so, everybody sat down for coffee in the living room. There was lots of quiet chatter until Richard cleared his throat, wishing to speak.

"Excuse me, everybody." He said. "Thank you. As you all may (or may not) know, I'm Lizzy's boyfriend. Today is her 25th birthday and I would like to give her a very special present." Richard turned to me. I stood up, speechless at what to say. He then knelt down on one knee and said, "Lizzy, it's been five years since we've first met and I am grateful for it every single day. And though I don't see you as often as I would love too, I want to say this…I love you and I hope that I could see you tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that, and for all the days for the rest of our lives." He paused, pulling out a red velvet box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a silver engagement ring. It had a heart-cut diamond and it was beautiful.

"Lizzy, will you marry me?" He asked with the serious hope that this was romantic enough.

I just gave him a smile and told him that I would love to marry him. I had no idea why, but when Richard slid the rind onto my ring finger, Darcy came to my mind.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Oh, Lizzy, I have something for you." Mom said. I sat down next to her and she handed me an envelope.

"What is it?" I asked with curiosity. It was a cream colored envelope with a thick card stuffed inside.

"It's Frances Collins's wedding invitation."

"Ahhh…Collins's getting married?"

"To a girl who was the daughter of a client of the firm." Mom answered. She seemed just as amused as I was.

"Poor girl, did he send you guys one?"

"Yes, but we had to decline. Your father has a business meeting that day and I'm going with him."

"Should I go?"

"Of course, he was such a sweetheart to you and he's so nice. Plus, it's a wedding. How many of those have you been to lately? And you might learn a few things for your own wedding." Mom smiled, placing a hand on mine.

I opened the invitation up to read:

_You are cordially invited to celebrate_

_the wedding of_

_France Arthur Collins_

_and_

_Mary Patricia James_

_On Friday afternoon_

_July 15th_

_at three o'clock_

_91 Pride Street, Rosings, Maine _

_followed by a reception_

"I don't know, Mom. Maine? I don't even know where Rosings is."

"Don't worry about that, Lizzy. If you RSVP, you would only have to buy a plane ticket to fly to Maine. They will arrange a ride, a room for you to stay in, and even a plane ticket back to England."

"How would you know that?"

"Frances came over for dinner just to personally invite you to the wedding."

"Well, it's only a wedding. How could it hurt?" I smiled.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

For the five years that I have been with Richard, I had never really explored his house before. It's crazy, right? But that was the truth. Obviously, I've slept over before, but I've never look through his things.

A week after my birthday party, Richard took me to his house and told me that he would cook me dinner.

"Wow, I've never had a guy cook for me before." I laughed, sitting at one of the bar stools, facing Richard.

"You'd be amazed at how well I can cook."

We laughed and joked for a while until I asked him if I could look at his photo albums.

"Why?"

"To see if you have more pictures of me or more pictures of your ex." I told him.

"If I was a smart guy, I would've burned all those photos away years ago." Richard said as he went over to the closet to get something from the shelf.

"But here begs the question, are you a smart guy?"

"Sadly, no." He laughed, handing me the album.

While we were waiting for the lobster to finish baking, Richard and I sat down and looked through the photos. He showed me pictures of his parents, who lived in California, and of his colleagues, of whom I had met before at the hospital.

I was flipping through the pictures of Richard's extended family when my eyes fell on one particular picture. It was a photograph of an older woman, a younger one, and a man. I didn't know who the women were but I recognized the plain looking man in front of me. It was Frances Collins.

"You know Frances Collins?" I asked Richard, shocked.

"Yeah, he's my cousin on my father's side. How do you know him?"

"Family friend. How small could this world possibly be?"

"It's quite small. And I was planning on going to his wedding too. Aunt Cathy planned the whole extravaganza."

"I'm going. But I've never met Aunt Catherine before."

"You're lucky. I can't get out of work to fly all the way to Maine."

"So you're not going?" I frowned. A week in America without seeing Richard would be painful for me.

"No, but speaking of a small world, I have a family relative that went to Yale too. Any chance that you might know him? I think I have a picture of him in here somewhere.

"I hope not. That would just make everything so weird." I laughed.

"Here he is." He showed me a photo and I was shocked out of my mind. It was him. It was the guy I avoided thinking about for the past five years. It was William Darcy.

Judging from the expression on my face, Richard said, "So you do know him."

"Yeah, we had classes together. Small world indeed, huh?"

"Anything else? He told me about this one girl that he dated for a few weeks once. He was too shy to say her name but I knew that he still loved her. He didn't tell me why they broke up though. Do you know her?" Richard asked.

I paused but eventually said, "No, Will and I wasn't that close."

Suddenly, the oven made a slight bell noise that told us that the baking was done. Richard quickly got up to check on the lobsters. I sat there and wondered why I had lied to Richard. Yes, I've omitted the truth before but I have never said anything that was a lie. Maybe I thought that Richard would get jealous. No, that wasn't it. I didn't know why. The truth had a funny way of showing itself but this was one thing from my past that would hurt too much for too many people to be known.

_A/N: Hey, everybody! Sorry, I was feeling lazy but I've finally put out the next chapter. School starts in two days for me so I probably won't be as a lazy in updating chapters._

_How do you like this chapter? This chapter was one surprise after another. Please note that Lizzy had slept with Richard by this point and though he is her first, he isn't going to be her only one. I've got something up my sleeves. _

_Anyways, I have two votes for the title 'Complications' for this story and one vote for 'Moments of Endearments'. I'll probably make the decision next chapter so make your voices heard if you haven't done so already._

_I hope people are still reading this story but if not then that is fine with me. I just hope that I'm not getting worse at writing this. _

_I have revised many chapter of the story so hopefully the grammar had gotten better. Probably not. And I have added a line that would help out with the whole 'drinking in England' problem. Sorry for that._

_Thank you to all the readers who are reading this and thank you even more for reviewing. Tell me what you think about this chapter and/or story and I'll see you next time._

_**Deborah: Sorry about the difficulty that you had reading this story. I hope it got better later on. But thanks for reading anyways.**_

**_xXx-dee-xXx_****_: Thank you for your suggestion. It was a very great idea but I have a very clear idea on how this story is going to end. I have it time lined on a paper. : ) Thanks for submitting your idea though._**


	24. Frances Collins's Wedding

**Marriage. It's like a cultural hand-rail. It links folks to the past and guides them to the future.**

**Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider**

**Chapter XXIV: Frances Collins's Wedding**

So off to Maine, I went. When I called Collins, he seemed so thrilled to hear from me. It was strange that he still recognized my voice after all these years. And, as life would have it, Collins did arrange everything for me to come over. I couldn't help but feel that he was up to something.

On the plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean, I sat there by the window, and looked at all the blue water and smiled. I pondered about my life and wondered if there was anything that I would've changed. I suppose there would be some things but I couldn't think of any right then.

When I came out of the gate, the first person I saw, waiting for me, was Collins.

"Lizzy!" He yelled to get my attention. He was still very plain looking and still awfully touchy-feely with me. It was incredible how one person can be exactly the same after five years.

"Hey, Mr. Collins. How have you been these years?"

"Oh, not much, besides the fact that I'm getting married." We got into the limo (The limo! Why on earth would he get a limo just for this?) "My Aunt Catherine wanted to meet you so much, she sent me out in this limo to get you to Rosings. Isn't she the greatest?"

"Yes, I'm sure she is." Well, I was going to meet 'Aunt Catherine'. That should be a good thing, right?

"Yes, you'll love Rosings. It's such a special piece of property. And Aunt Catherine has prepared a room just for you."

"Wait, you mean I'm staying at Rosings? Where your aunt lives?" I asked.

"Yes, she's the most tolerable person, I know."

"I can't stay there! I would be intruding, why can't I stay at a hotel or something?"

"I would never have my special guest stay at a hotel. And even though I live nearby, you can't stay with me. My fiancé would have a fit."

"Please, Mr. Collins, I can't."

"Lizzy, you will stay at Rosings and that will be the end of it. You'll love Rosings, trust me." As much as I don't trust Mr. Collins, if I was attending his wedding, I suppose I had to stay with _Aunt Catherine de Bough_.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Remember when I said that something was fishy about Collins? Well, I was right. I found that out when I arrived at Rosings.

It was a beautiful place, really. HUGE lawn and probably an even bigger backyard. There was a really nice garden that I admired greatly.

Anyways, what I found out about Collins was that he invited me to come to his wedding (besides the fact that he needed more guests) because he wanted to rub in my face the life I chose not to have with him. Wasn't that outrageous? I mean the place was great and all but seriously, he was praising this life that he had way too much.

When I got to the door, Collins told me that I would finally get to meet his Aunt. Honestly, I wasn't excited or nervous. But I would be very polite and grateful to her for providing me with a place to stay while I was here.

Collins led me to the "drawing room" which I thought was really a living room. There sat a woman in an armchair dressed elegantly with a mournful look.

She turned to look at me and Collins said, "Aunt Catherine, this is my special wedding guest that I've been telling you about. This is Elizabeth Bennet."

"It's really nice to meet you, Mrs. De Bourgh. I am so grateful that you would allow me to stay in your home. Thank you so much." I said, extending my hand out. Mrs. De Bourgh didn't stand up nor shook my hand. She looked at it with a distaste and said,

"Please sit down, Miss Bennet." It wasn't a suggestion, it was a command. I sat down on the chair facing Mrs. De Bourgh. She then called for tea. Collins sat down next to his aunt and the three of us started "talking".

"How old are you, Miss Bennet?"

"I'm 25; my birthday was about a week ago."

"Oh, happy birthday, Lizzy!" Collins piped in. This conversation was going to be very strange. It was filled with Mrs. De Bourgh asking me questions and me answering them, with the occasional piped reply from Collins, of course.

Over all, I learned this about myself. I was a teacher. I went to Yale. I was born in New York City and my parents owned a bakery. Wow, I would've never known that if it wasn't for Mrs. De Bourgh! Gosh!

"You know, Miss Bennet, I have a nephew who went to Yale. I'm sure you know of him. William Darcy? He was so popular at his school then."

"Yes, I do know him. We had classes together. And you're right, he was popular." I faked a smile. Please don't tell me that she was going to talk about Darcy.

I suddenly remembered that there was a great chance that Darcy was going to be here. I felt a pain in my heart and knew that if he was here, I would have a lot of explaining to do.

"The boy was so smart, but when it came to holding up the family honor, he disappoints." Mrs. De Bourgh frowned. Family honor? What could she possibly mean?

"What do you mean, Mrs. De Bourgh? If I'm not prying, of course?" I asked.

"Oh, William knew well enough that he was suppose to act properly and to marry well when it came time to take over his parents' oil company. But he didn't do either. First it was that slutty girlfriend of his when he started college. Amy, was it?" Mrs. De Bourgh started.

"Alice, Aunt Catherine." Collins answered. This was going to be a rant that I would not be able to get out of.

"Right, Alice. William wanted to marry her. But luckily, he caught her cheating on him with that friend of his."

"But that was years ago, wouldn't that be enough time to forgive him for such a mistake." Why was I defending him?

"You've mistaken, Miss Bennet." Mrs. De Bourgh said with a smug look on her face. "After Alice, William started dating Anne, my daughter, but that only ended in disaster."

Did she just say 'daughter'? I should've thought of that when Aunt Lucy said "Anne de Bourgh". That was…that was incest! That was…disgusting, and disturbing. How could Darcy date his own cousin, even becoming engaged? He was ready to marry Anne…and have kids with her! I may be overreacting to this but I thought I was going to puke.

"How?" I asked, regaining my sense of composure and politeness. This was Catherine de Bourgh after all. I couldn't risk being rude to this 'great' person.

"My poor daughter caught William cheating on her. Oh! Poor thing! She cried her heart out for a long time. She was so hurt. William made me so mad but Anne, with her heart of gold, told me that I shouldn't be mad at my nephew because it wouldn't have allowed her to move on. Isn't that sweet?"

I thought about that for a moment. Sure, Mrs. De Bourgh praised Anne to be an angel one too many times but when I really thought about it, it wasn't Anne's fault that her engagement fell apart, and she had the right to move on. I found myself sympathizing with her, if only I could've been in her shoes.

"Yes, she is very sweet and forgiving." I smiled.

"And then there was that other witch he went out with." She said, after taking a sip from her tea cup.

"Who?" I asked, hoping she wasn't talking about me. Of course, it was me but did _she_ know it was _me_? Probably not.

"I don't remember her name. Frankly, William never told anybody about her. Did you not know her?"

"No, it just wasn't something he would bring up when I talked to him."

"Oh, well, William dated the girl for about two weeks and they broke up."

"That's strange. Did he tell you why?" It was something i had to know.

"He told _me_ that the girl wasn't fit enough for the family. I'm glad that he made that decision for himself. He has been with many worthless girls in his days. Only my Anne was perfect." Not to sound mean or anything but I was sure that Anne wasn't the best choice for Darcy.

Family pressure and honor, was it really worth changing your life? For some people, it really was, even if it meant that they weren't going to be happy except for the mere thought that their families were happy. It was sad, pathetic even. I didn't think that I could ever go through with that. People who do were cowards.

Anyways, hearing this from Mrs. De Bourgh should have made me angry at Darcy for fabricating such a lie, but when I really thought about it, I've lied about our relationship before, why shouldn't he? The only part that I should've been mad about was Mrs. De Bourgh calling me worthless, but then again, she doesn't know that it was me.

After a few more minutes of boring conversation between Mrs. De Bourgh and nobody, (that does remind me of somebody…must run in the family), Mrs. De Bourgh excused us to leave.

Collins then took me to meet his fiancé while the maids (as in more than one) prepare my room and stuff. (I would've rather do it myself but Collins just wouldn't shut up.)

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Collin's house was really close to his Aunt's place as he had always mentioned it to be. It was literally right next door. It was comfy and nice but the way that Collins kept rubbing it in my face… he was doing it oh so subtly.

I really wanted to say to Collins that I knew exactly what I was doing when I told him no, but that would've been mean. Yes, he does have a nice job, made good money, lived in a nice home, and had very respectable connections… but that wasn't enough for me, it never will be.

"Mary!" Collins called when he opened the door with his key. "Are you here?"

"Yeah…"A woman's voice replied back. The woman walked out and I would have to say that this girl was _perfect_ for Collins.

Okay, I may not know her personality but her looks…she was neither ugly nor pretty. She was just plain like Collins, just very plain-looking.

"Hi." Mary (I suppose) said to me, extending out her right hand and smiling. "You must be Miss Bennet."

"Oh, yes, but please, call me Lizzy. That's what everybody calls me." I said, shaking her hand.

"Very nice to meet you, Frances has told me so much about you." Mary invited me to sit down in the living room and asked me if I wanted a drink.

As Mary fixed my drink, Collins said he needed to get back to his office to do some work for his aunt. For the five whole minutes that I was practically alone in the house (I mean, no one was actually with me and talking to me), I looked around the room.

There were pictures of Collins, ones of him winning some sort of chess competitions and the trophies right next to the frames to prove it. There were photos of Mary too. Ones that she was with Collins at the beach, at the park, even at home. They look like a true match. Collins would be very happy, I concluded, if only he could just let go of the whole 'rubbing it in my face' plan.

I scanned the mantle to look at more pictures when I stopped at a slightly bigger picture frame than the others. It was a picture of everyone who was at my nineteenth birthday party at the beach. Jane must've sent him a picture without telling me. There was Collins, in his goofy outfit, Caroline, looking awfully disgusted my way, Jane and Charlie, hugging each other, Anne (Darcy's sister, remember?), smiling her sweet smile, and Darcy and I, laughing our heads off. It was a touching moment for me, seeing that picture.

"Frances just loves that picture." Mary said, handing me my drink. We both admired the picture. "He said that it was one of the best times of his life."

"Wow, I would've thought that he would hate that day with a burning passion." I laughed.

"He doesn't take things to heart."

"You'd be surprised."

"Anyways," Mary said, leading me back to sitting down on the couch. She then sat across from me. "Let's talk."

"About what?"

So we talked, about a lot of things, really. We bonded and stuff. It was great, getting to know Mary, listening to her worries about life. It was hard for me to imagine Mary, such a wonderful girl, to spend the _rest of her life_ (maybe) with Collins. But hearing Mary say all these things about her being happy, made me feel better, she might be happy with Collins.

"You know, you're really nice to talk to." Mary laughed after about an hour of talking about ourselves.

"Why thank you. You too."

"I can't wait for you to come to the wedding."

"That's why I'm here."

"You're going to have so much fun; Frances's Aunt Catherine planned everything. She's so great."

"Of all the things that I've heard of her, I'm sure that she's great." I smiled. Mrs. De Bourgh wasn't all that bad. Besides the fact that she sometimes acted like she was better than everybody else, she was civil and looked out for her family. (Although, the thought of her daughter and Darcy…EWWW!)

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Miss Bennet, what were you thinking about wearing to the wedding?" Mrs. De Bourgh asked me when we were eating breakfast the morning after.

"I have two dresses that I brought over here."

"I should better see it today." Mrs. De Bourgh said with a straight face no less. It was so weird that I was stunned for a moment.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, making sure that I didn't do anything wrong. (Mrs. De Bourgh was not someone to get on the wrong side of.)

"I just wanted to make sure that you're wearing the appropriate thing to the reception. I have a lot of clients there and I wouldn't want you to dress in appropriately, now would I?" she said with a tone of austere.

So I showed her my dresses later, apparently my black and white strapless, knee-length dress with a black ribbon around my waist was way too unacceptable for Mrs. De Bourgh to bear. Poor woman, I wonder how her childhood must've been.

"We have to get you something, Miss Bennet." She said, shaking her head once more at my dress.

"Oh, no. Please, I could probably find another dress."

"There's no need to worry about money, Miss Bennet. I'll make Frances pay for it. You are his special guest after all." What was _that_ suppose to mean? Ok, I wasn't _wealthy_ but that doesn't mean that I didn't have money to pay for a dress. I just really want to wear _that_ dress. I made a good salary and Jane and I took care of the twins, making sure that they had everything. There was never a real financial problem. I should be taking offence to that.

"But…"

"Besides, my daughter, Anne is coming home today; I'll have her to take you shopping." Notice she said _have_ instead of _ask_, poor Anne. To be subject to her mother's demands…. must be hard.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Anne, come over, dear. I want you to do something for me." Mrs. De Bourgh said as I waited, anticipating the meeting. She somehow convinced to actually play along with this. This was crazy! I should be insulted! But I wasn't, which was weird.

"Yes, Mom?" A woman came over to Mrs. De Bourgh and kissed her on the cheeks.

"Anne, this is Miss Elizabeth Bennet. She's Frances's guest from England." The woman turned to look at me and I could tell that she recognized me just as I looked at her, knowing that I recognized her also.

But luckily, she didn't say anything. "Hi, I'm Lizzy. It's really nice to meet you."

"Anne, nice to meet you to." She smiled. I guess that was the only appropriate thing to do.

"Anne, I would like for you to help Miss Bennet find something _appropriate_ to wear to Frances's reception."

"Oh, okay. Let's go, Lizzy." I swear to god, this was what really happened. Life can be unrealistic sometimes.

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We were trying on some dresses at the mall when Anne brought up the real subject of my relationship with Darcy. What subject could possibly interest Anne, you may ask (or not)? Well, how about how I completely ruined her incestuous engagement to Darcy? Yeah, that was the one.

I was trying on this paisley green dress when Anne asked, "So, Lizzy, why doesn't my mother know about you and Will?"

I was looking at myself in the mirror; I turned to her and said, "Because… I didn't tell her. And you didn't either, obviously." I wasn't going to lie to her, and I certainly wasn't going to deny anything either.

"My mother doesn't need to know _who_ exactly kissed Will. But it's not because I forgive you or anything."

"I never expected for you to do anything of that kind."

"So, what happened?" It was self-explanatory.

So I told her what happened, of all the bits and pieces that I've been able to put together. I told her about Jane and about Charlie and about CJ and Jack…and about Richard. She wasn't exactly thrilled about that but she accepted it.

So we talked, talked like complete strangers but after a while, like friends. It was…nice.

I asked Anne what happened to her after my aunt's party. She told me how she was still single today and that she hadn't dated in a while. She also focused more on her education and was now a business president for her mom's hotel company overseas.

It seemed that our lives had gotten better without the presence of Will Darcy and yet there was something about Anne that made me think that there was still something, about seven years' worth of repressed feelings and emotions.

I ended up getting this nice soft white summer dress with a light pink flower print. It was pretty (And cheap too, I got it on sale!) and it also came with this summer hat. Just imagine that outfit that Anne Hathaway wore during the garden party in**_ The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement_**, it was kind of like that.

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So anyways, today was the wedding day. I would have to say that the time that I spent at Rosings was time well spent. The backyard was gorgeous and it was relaxing just to walk through it.

I would also go to Collin's place everyday to comfort Mary about her wedding. She needed it. I told her not to worry and that everything would be just fine. (She was still worried though.)

Collins didn't seem that nervous about his nuptials. He just seemed overwhelmingly happy about it, which I'm sure you should feel but a little bit of feeling nervous wouldn't hurt.

I've grown soft, I know. But these years have changed me a lot and it has made me a better person. I'm no longer outspoken, I no longer express my opinion whenever I wish to. I've matured, if you want to say that. Taking care of the twins has made me happier, they've made Jane happier and they've always been there. (They couldn't go anywhere else but that was beside the point.)

Anyways, being philosophical aside, the ceremony was beautiful and Mrs. De Bourgh was very good at making everything perfect. Mary looked amazing and it was a wonder how you could transform a plain looking girl into someone so beautiful. Collins, on the other hand, didn't look so different. It's sad how they don't care about the groom as much as the bride, huh?

I sat there in the church, wearing my very pretty red dress that made me look slutty…but only a little. (Actually, it was Jane's dress that I borrowed from her a long, long time ago but I just never felt like giving it back. I don't remember why I borrowed it in the first place though.) I could've sworn Mrs. De Bourgh was giving me the evil glare when she saw me in this dress.

I was also wearing this pendant necklace that I got from someone a long time ago. I didn't know why, but repressing most of my past has actually made me forget a lot of the things that I was sure I cherished at one time. If only as one time.

I learned a lot from the ceremony, likehow soft pastels looked a lot nicer looking than the bright baby blue that I was thinking about. I also learned that flowers inside the church were a nice idea too but I wasn't sure whether the wedding should be outside or inside. Something to think about.

I went back to Rosings after the ceremony to change into my dress (with my cute hat), thinking about who I might see again. Will I see Darcy's sister Anne again? Gosh I haven't seen that girl in years. She was so sweet and we had a good thing going. Why did I screw this up? But the big question was, as I turned my engagement ring around and around my finger, would I see Darcy again?

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I walked down to the lawn (Yeah, the really big one.), to where the reception would be at and enjoyed the sunshine. It was a really nice day and I loved the warmth touching my face.

I turned my head up to catch some more rays on my face, but the wind that passed by me, caught my hat, and away my hat went. I turned and ran (in my heels, thank you) after it.

About 30 feet of chasing, I finally caught up to the floating hat. But I couldn't get it because right then (as luck would have), I bumped into someone. The bump was so hard that I was in the process of falling backwards until that person, that I had hit, grabbed my arms and held me steady.

I looked up and saw that the person I was locking eyes with had no idea why I was the one unlucky enough to have caught his sight again. Or maybe it was because he was too shock to process in his mind who he was looking. But either way, the person, who had caught me, was Darcy. Will Darcy. (As if to say his name again would chnage things.)

We were speechless for a moment, when we both heard somebody call Darcy's name. It was Caroline. How did I know it was her? Oh, please, even if she had people put a fat suit on her, I will always be able to tell that she will always be the skinny, anorexic girly girl that I know and hate.

Darcy had let go of me when Caroline walked over to him.

"Hey, Will." Caroline smiled, giving Darcy a kiss on his cheek. Darcy was still looking at me, his face turned back into being emotionless. Caroline, of course, had _no idea_ that I was even standing here until she turned to face me.

The look that she made was a mixture of shock and smugness. I didn't care about the kiss on the cheek really. She did that to Darcy all the time when we still "knew" each other.

"Elizabeth Bennet. My, my, I wasn't expecting you to be." Caroline said with yet another smug and condescending look on her face, and yet…she was smiling.

"Caroline Bingley." I imitated her. "Frances Collins invited me himself. I had to make it for his big day."

"Actually, it's almost Mrs. Darcy." Caroline said, showing me her ring. It was big, I can tell you that. I was mad, pissed, and relieved all at the same time. To be honest, I didn't even know if I cared.

"Well, I guess that makes us family." I said. I didn't plan that, I just thought it was relevant. It was no secret or anything. ( It was just low kept.)

"What do you mean?" Caroline said, hanging onto Darcy's arm (who has yet to say anything).

"Didn't you know? I'm almost Mrs. Richards." I turned to look at Darcy's once again shocked face, but did I see an angry flicker in his eyes? "Didn't Richard tell you?"

"But…but…" Caroline stumbled over her words.

"Oh, look! We better go to our tables, we wouldn't want Mrs. De Bourgh to go crazy on us if we were late." I interrupted, grabbing my hat, which lay next to my feet as if it wanted me there, and walked down towards the big white tents.

I looked for my assigned table and went over to sit down. I was the first one to sit down (of course) and I looked around for some sort of alcoholic drink. I ended up with a vodka drink in my hand. I sat there looking around at people whom I didn't know. I hated that feeling, being in a place where you didn't know anybody. It was like being the new kid at school. Terrible feeling.

I closed my eyes and thought of Richard, thinking of him made me forget of what an awkward meeting that was. Somebody sat down next to me, I didn't bother opening my eyes to see who it was. I knew who it was. I would know his smell anywhere.

"How could you?" Darcy asked me. He asked me as if I had done something regretful. He was accusing me.

I opened my eyes again and looked at him and saw that he too was staring into space.

_To be continued…_

_A/N: Hey everybody! Sorry for the long update but this chapter is long and I changed a lot of ideas. So, how did you like this chapter? It was part filler and part really climatic. Especially at the end. Ok, I hope you remembered but the red dress that Lizzy wore to the ceromony was the valentine's dinner dress and the necklace was Christmas present._

_I don't knowwhat else to say about this chapter. I thought I had a lot to say. It's about 10:50 P.M. right now so I might not be thinking straight. Okay, I'm going to look over this really quickly and I will post it. Then about two days later, if I have the time, which I will, I will go through it more thoroughly. Does that sound good? I don't want you guys biting my head off. : )_

_plus, Caroline and Darcy was a terrible pairing that was too hard to miss. i hope you're not mad. please don't mad_

_Okay, I'll right onto the next chapter and it'll be out in like three weeks or so. My homecoming is around the corner, so I'll be busy!_

_Thanks to everybody who read this chapter and please review. I got 11 reviews for the last chapter and that made me so happy because I never got that many reviews for one chapter before. That made me very happy. It got me more motivated in finishing this chapter for you guys._

_Anyways, read and review, okay? Thanks!_


	25. Confrontations of Sorts

"**A****ll things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travelers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken."**

**Thomas Wolfe**

**Chapter XXV: Confrontations of Sorts**

I stared at Darcy, not knowing what to say. And then I looked at him, realizing and observing for the first time the man that he had become. It was strange, to say the least. He was still tall and handsome as I had remembered and he still looked stern and silent.

"What?" I asked, not sure if that was the right thing to say.

"You're with Richard now?" He asked as if he couldn't believe the thought of that in his mind. He then took a drink from his martini (because beer bottles were so informal and wouldn't get you drunk enough.)

"Do you have a problem with that?" I asked back. People were just socializing and walking past us. They were completely oblivious that they were walking past two past lovers meeting again for the first time in five years. But then again, they had no reason to know.

"Yeah, I do." He answered simply. We both stared into space, watching the sun set. But when Darcy said that, I turned to face him.

"Funny, didn't think you'd be the guy to care about what goes on in my life."

"Considering that I haven't heard from you for five years, I would think that I would've gotten a better hello out of you."

"Five years, huh? Strange, I clearly remember telling you that we were no longer friends. Thus I don't know you."

"You're still angry about that?" He asked me with a look of pain on his face.

"No, not anymore." I paused and said, "But it doesn't mean that I've forgiven you either."

Suddenly, somebody announce for the guests to get ready for the new groom and bride. Darcy and I both got up and I quickly fled from the table to the "dance floor" where Collins and Mary were expected to dance.

Collins and Mary came into the dance tent from over the hill and it was so beautiful to watch them laugh together. Now if only Collins could appreciate Mary more.

The couple gave out a few words of thanks and hoped that everybody would have a wonderful time tonight. I went back to my table where I saw that the rest of the guests assigned to the table were all people I just met and once knew mixed together.

(Can you guess who was there? You probably could tell but for the sake of this story, I shall say their names for those who are not quite so quick at this. )

"Lizzy?" Anne Darcy said. She was still very pretty. She grew taller and her taste in clothes changed but she was still Anne Darcy.

"Anne, I didn't think you would remember me." I tried to smile but it just made me look nervous. I took a seat next to Anne de Bourgh and an empty seat that was the only seat between me and Caroline Bingley.

"Why wouldn't I remember you? You've done nothing wrong."

I smiled and took a sip from my glass. Just then, somebody came up behind the seat next to me and asked, "I hope I haven't missed anything, have I?"

I turned to look at the person and he turned to look at me. It was as much of a shock as to when I first saw Will at the wedding. It was really him, Charlie.

"Lizzy…Lizzy Bennet." Charlie said my name out loud as if saying them recalled back many memories.

"Charlie, how are you?"

"Good…good, what are you doing here?" He said, still facing me, as he slowly sat down next to me.

"This is a wedding, Charlie. I thought you knew that. And, I know the groom." I said as a server served me a halibut dish with rosemary on the side.

"Yeah, but everybody thought that you wouldn't come."

"Why would everybody think that I wouldn't go?" I said, looking suspiciously around the table. Caroline was using her finger to draw circles on Darcy's palm while he was watching me with his icy eyes. Anne de Bourgh was nervously picking at her food, looking down, while Anne Darcy kept looking at Darcy to Caroline to Charlie and to me.

"It's just that we haven't seen or talked to you in such a long time." Charlie answered after a short silence between the people occupying the table.

"Yes, five years does seem like a long time, doesn't it? But it wasn't like I died off the face of the planet or something." I laughed a nervous laugh, but only the two Anne's laughed with me.

"Yeah, you're right. So, how is everything?" Charlie asked.

And that was how dinner went by, meager conversations between a group of people who had so much to say to each other, so much to ask each other, and yet hid it behind small talks of politics and jobs.

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About an hour or two later, somebody announced that the bride and groom were going to have their first dance. When the couple danced, it was funny and sweet at the same time. Collins clearly didn't practiced enough when he was taking dance lessons and Mary seemed to have practiced too much. He was clumsy and kept stepping on her feet while she was the picture of calm and collected. It was nice to see that this was how life was supposed to be. Marrying someone who would love you and balance out your every flaw and would always be there when you needed them.

I got up from the table when, one by one, people were getting up to dance with someone else. Anne Darcy danced with her brother, Caroline dragged her brother (already pissed off that Anne Darcy would always be that important in Darcy's heart), and Anne de Bourgh was called away by her mother.

I was left alone, not knowing what do. I looked around, and I couldn't believe it but there was a type of bar stationed in the back lit corner of the enclosed tent. (Trust me; this was a really big tent.)

I asked the bartender for a bloody mary as I sat myself down on a stool. For the next few minutes after staring blankly at my drink, I drank the whole glass. The drink left a weird taste in my mouth and the back of my throat. I gasped to get air into my lungs.

One drink was basically all I needed, I sat there moments later, trying in vain to make small talk with the bartender but he just wouldn't buy into the fact that I knew exactly what I was doing.

Elizabeth Bennet being drunk is not like any other people being drunk at all. Oh no, Lizzy Bennet being drunk is when she is clumsy in whatever she does and yet can maintain a full conversation because she knew what she thought and she knew how to say it. She's sober in her mind.

(Didn't understand what I just said? Well, let's just say that when people think I'm drunk, I'm really not drunk in my mind. I can still talk like normal people and I remember everything that I have done or said. I'm just clumsy)

After a while, someone sat down next to me. I looked at the person and saw that it was Charlie who has sat down.

"One martini, please, and a glass of water." Charlie said after taking one look at me.

I looked at Charlie and grinned. He eyed me and asked, "What are you grinning about?"

"You think I'm drunk, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, who wouldn't?"

"I'm not, just so you know."

"I believe you."

After a long pause, where Charlie received his drink, something happened that sprung up the one topic that we both knew was what we really came to this wedding to talk about.

Anyway, we were both drinking by now. None of us spoke a word to each other. I finally decided to leave; I dug around my purse for money to tip the nice bartender. I was basically wrestling with this thing when my wallet popped out my bag and onto the floor, opened.

Charlie got off his stool and bent down to get my wallet for me when he saw the picture that I had stored there. It was a picture of Jane, Richard, the twins, and I at CJ and Jack's birthday party.

Charlie looked at the picture with a look of joy, a look of sadness, and also a look of confusion. I couldn't keep a secret like this forever. It was time for a little honesty.

"Lizzy, this picture…" Just had I expected, he was lost without words.

"The twins' third birthday party."

He turned to me with a look of surprise on his face and cried in disbelief, "You have kids?"

You would think that five years would be enough time to knock some sense into this guy, but no, he was just like Jane. This guy had no clue that the twins were his. I mean, it was kind of obvious.

"What makes you think I have kids?"

"You and Richard are engaged and Will said that you wouldn't be engaged to someone else if it weren't for another reason. You having kids make perfect sense." Charlie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Moron!" I yelled at him.

I snatched my wallet from his hands and pointed to Jane, "Look at her, Charlie. Do you know who this is?"

Charlie's eyes stayed still, staring at the girl in the picture. "It's Jane, the twins are her kids. They're almost five now."

I had never noticed until now but Charlie really just couldn't put two and two together.

"Charlie, do the math…she was pregnant when you left for Australia. And I'm pretty sure that Jane didn't sleep around at that time in her life."

He turned every shade of red and was in every state of shock. He sat back down on his stool and asked for shot glasses of tequila.

"I don't think Mrs. De Bourgh would like it if you get drunk at this wedding."

"I don't care. I need to think and alcohol seems to be the only thing that actually makes me think normally." That made sense.

"I need you to tell me a story, Lizzy." Charlie said as he took in his first shot.

"What story?" I asked, as I received a martini from the bartender.

"Tell me everything, starting from what happened the moment I broke up with Jane to today."

So I told him the story, I told him everything, and he listened. And we both drank. I didn't know if I should be saying this much but maybe Jane wanted Charlie to know.

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"Oh my goodness, I need to call her." Charlie said, after taking his next shot of alcohol.

"No." I said simply.

"Why?" Charlie asked in confusion.

"If you're going to call for the sake that she was pregnant when you left her, then forget about it. She doesn't need that from you."

"Then what should I do?"

"Don't do anything. You have a life. Unfortunately, Jane and I have a life separate from yours. If you didn't love Jane enough to not leave her then, you shouldn't do anything now."

"But I do love her…"

"Time will tell. You're pretty drunk as it is, think about everything before you make your decision. Frances Collins has my phone number. Call me when you decide." I stood up, a little shaky on my feet, but I still walked away. There was nothing left I could do but leave, nothing left to say to Charlie.

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I walked around the tent, looking for Darcy. I was walking slowly, knowing that if I ran, I would fall. Charlie and I talked for a long time but I still remember what he said, about Darcy thinking that there was no way I could become engaged with Richard without there being another reason than me loving him.

I saw him, talking to somebody whom I didn't know, and went up to him and said, "Bastard! Just so you know, I'm in love with Richard."

I slapped him and walked away. I didn't expect for him to follow me because, as I was walking away, I heard Charlie, in his drunken state of being, telling Darcy that they needed to talk.

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In my pretty dress, I sat on the grassy ground and stared at the stars. Anne Darcy walked over and sat down beside me.

"How have you been, Lizzy?" She asked with a look of sincerity.

"I'm just a little drunk, your brother's an asshole (no offense) and is probably getting yelled at by Charlie…all is good in the world." I said, dazedly.

"He still loves you, a lot." Anne Darcy said simply, staring at the sky.

"I doubt that he ever did love me when we dated. If he did, we would still be together. If he did, he wouldn't be with Caroline now." I laughed.

"He does love you, he loves very much. He was stupid with what he said. He didn't mean it at all." Anne Darcy said, with a hint of begging in her tone.

"And Caroline?"

"He told me that he got drunk one night last year, and slept with Caroline. He didn't mean to but he got her pregnant. She miscarried and Will felt responsible. He just couldn't leave her. In a sense, he had to be with her."

"Always doing the responsible thing, he was always doing the honorable thing, what he felt was right. Why didn't Mrs. De Bourgh tell me this when she was ranting on and on about him?" I asked in shock.

"She had no idea; she would've had a heart attack."

I laughed at that. We both just sat there and talked about Anne Darcy, what her life was really like. No more talk of Darcy, it wasn't the time.

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When Anne Darcy had to go check in with her aunt, she left me sitting there, staring at the stars once again.

A few minutes later, it seemed as if Darcy found me at last and he was frustrated.

"Lizzy!" he yelled.

I looked at him and asked him what he wanted.

"What the hell?"

"You know, you keep asking me these vague questions, expecting me to know or give a damn what you're talking about."

"Why couldn't you tell me about Jane?"

"You couldn't care less."

"If I knew, I would've…"

"You would've what?" I stood up, angry and frustrated about this conversation.

"I would've talked to Charlie."

"Just admit it, this is your fault. Nothing, nothing you do could make this better, Darcy. Nothing at all!" I said as I walked up to Darcy, so close to his face that we were almost touching.

Darcy didn't say anything; he just suddenly held my face in his hands and kissed me.

_A/N: Hey, everybody! What's up? I hope you like this chapter, I tried my best to make it sound interesting. _

_There's nothing more I would say but to give thanks to everybody who read and review. 14 reviews for the last chapter was a lot, you guys made me so happy!_

_This chapter is short, I know, but I feel that it packs a punch, don't you think? Well, have fun, thinking about what might happen next! Thanks, and remember to review._

_P.S. I'm deciding to keep the title as it is, it seems like a classic title, huh? Thanks for all your inputs, you guys. I appreciate it._


	26. The Talk, the Truth, & the Trust

**There is love of course. And then there's life, its enemy. Jean Anouilh**

**Chapter XXVI: The Talk, the Truth, and the Trust**

Oh my god…what was I doing! This couldn't be happening! I was engaged to Richard!

I regained the control of my body a few seconds later and pulled myself away from Darcy's grasp. My hand went across his face and the contact made an echo that could be heard throughout the area. I looked at him, asking him what the hell he was doing.

"I don't know. I wasn't thinking. You were standing right there. Oh my god…" He said rapidly.

I started crying, I just realized how much I had really missed touching Darcy. How much it was to really be this close to him. I guess I've been repressing all these things for so long that I've forgotten how I've really felt about him.

"Lizzy, why are you crying?" Darcy said, taking a step towards me with arms stretched out to comfort me.

I took a step, backing away from him. I shook my head, my lips sealed tightly, hoping that I wouldn't cry out more tears. I turned around and ran back towards the house.

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Half an hour, for 30 whole minutes, I sat there at the foot of my bed, crying my eyes out silently. I tried not to make any sound, it was painful enough and I didn't want to make it worse for myself.

Why was I crying? It totally sucked to be me right now. I guess they were wrong when they said that your heart can only have room for one person. That was a lie and I was the perfect example. Just look at me, I was engaged to a man I loved and yet I couldn't but think that I was still in love with someone else.

I was confused, this couldn't be happening to me. If Richard ever found out about this, he would leave me for sure. And I didn't want that. I loved Richard. There was nothing more that I could say.

There was a knock on my door. I looked up, not wanting to talk to anybody tonight.

"Who is it?" I said, trying to wipe away my tears.

"Lizzy, it's me. Could I come in?" Darcy whispered. He was quiet but I knew exactly what he wanted.

"No, I'm sorry, but I don't think I should see anybody right now."

"If you don't let me in, then I guess I could just sit here outside your door." I could hear him sliding down with his back to the door until he firmly rested on the floor.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because we need to talk." He said simply.

"Do you really think that there is anything that we need to talk about?" I asked, crawling towards the door so that I was also sitting with my back against the hard surface. (I mean, no matter how well I knew what Darcy was thinking, there was no way that I could hear his voice this far away from the door.)

"Lizzy, we haven't seen each other for _five years_, and the day that I get to finally see you again, you're engaged, to Richard no less, and I find out about Jane and what you guys had to go through these past years. So, yeah, we do have _a lot_ to talk about." He said irritably when he mentioned Richard's name.

"I know I'm with Richard. I just wouldn't think that you would have a problem with this."

"I just can't help but think that you're with him just to get back at me."

"Okay, let's stop for a moment to think about what you conceitedly just said. Don't mistaken, Darcy. I haven't been with Richard for five years just to get back at you. In fact, I didn't know he was related to you until two weeks ago." I argued.

Upon hearing this, Darcy started chuckling. It was as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"What's so funny?" I asked curiously. I had forgotten that I was crying just before. Something about finally getting this off my chest was making me feel better.

"I find it funny that you've known Richard for such a long time but that you hadn't known about his family relations until just a few weeks ago?"

"I don't pry into the lives of the ones I love best. If you haven't noticed, I've changed a lot. And that would include me becoming increasingly slow. If Richard didn't want to tell me who he was related to, then I would accept that. Besides, the only reason I would know that you were _related_ to him (if you could call it that) was because he was Collin's cousin. He didn't really have to tell me about you because you two aren't really related. Besides, I'm surprised you and Richard are so close (close enough at least). As I could recall, you didn't even know that Collins was your aunt's nephew."

"Well, that's a different story. I guess we've both changed a lot."

"Yep, for the better too."

Darcy gave out another laugh and I found it strange that he would do something like that. I also didn't understand why he would.

"Do I even have to ask?" I asked, resting my head on the door.

"I'm not sure that our lives have changed for the better, Lizzy."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Well, let's recap, shall we? When we broke up and Charles leaving for Australia, Jane was pregnant. You two thought it would be a good idea for the both of you to move to England.

There, Jane gave birth and you started dating Richard. You two continued to date, eventually he proposed and you accepted. Now you come here, back to America, attending this wedding. You had no idea that all these things would happen tonight. Did I leave anything out?"

"Yeah, unless you were nonexistent this whole time, you didn't talk about yourself at all. So let me take a turn at it."

"Go right on ahead."

"Okay, after you went to California, you spent maybe about a month brooding over the breakup, you then came back and told your Aunt Catherine that I wasn't really right for the family for you to date.

You realized that Jane and I were gone and you and Charlie frantically tried to find us. After about another month, you gave up and moved on with your lives. You graduated with high honors and started working for your parents. Now you're successful but after one drunken night, you slept with Caroline and got her pregnant.

That's why you're with her, you felt responsible for her miscarriage, and I applaud you for doing the right thing. But after seeing me again and Charlie telling you everything about Jane, you realized just how much feelings you still have for me and you lose control."

After a long pause, we both processed what we exactly just said. Was it all true?

I stood up and opened the door. Darcy looked up at me and he could see my tear stains running down my cheeks. I sat down beside him.

Darcy suddenly said, "You think you know me well, don't you?"

"No, I don't. I used to but now, everything I say is an assumption. I'm not sure you know me very well either."

"You really are going to marry Richard, aren't you?" Darcy asked, suddenly changing the subject.

I paused, wondering why he would change the subject and why this one. "I love Richard, and he loves me. I'm going to marry him."

"Even if I still love you?" he said. It shocked me. I mean, I heard it before from Anne Darcy but hearing it straight from Darcy, well, it scared me.

"There's no way that I could ever accept that from you. I was only after your money when we dated, remember?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. It was a stupid mistake."

"Look, I won't leave Richard and you won't leave Caroline. There's nothing else to say about this matter."

"Richard." Darcy scoffed.

"Yes, Richard. I've told you again and again, I will marry him."

"I've seriously underestimated you. You're very sly and manipulative. I finally get it."

"Get what?"

"First it was Collins, then me, now poor Richard. You know, he's a really nice guy, I could understand how he fell for your trick."

"So, what exactly are you trying to say?" I said, standing up to look at him closely.

"You really do have a thing for my family, don't you?"

"So, let me get this straight, not only are you calling me a gold digger, you're also calling me a whore?"

Darcy was silent, confirming my accusation. "Just so you know, you slept with someone and got her pregnant, while I left you and found happiness somewhere else. I honestly didn't know that Richard had anything to do with you. So, no, you don't get the right to call me a whore." I opened the door once again to my room and slammed it behind me.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

_Rrrrrrrriiiiiinnnnngggg…Rrrrrriiiiinnnnnnnngggggg…_

My phone ranged for quite awhile, lying there on my bed. I've also been staring at it for quite some time now.

It was a strange number. I didn't want to find out who had called me. I just wanted to be left alone. Anybody sensible would've just left a message but no, this person had to call five more times until he left one.

Darcy left after staying silent for a while and knocking on my door for the next ten minutes after that. He begged for forgiveness, asked to be let in, recalling memories of our past. He basically talked to himself for a full 15 minutes. It was sad but I wouldn't answer or open the door for him.

I didn't know where he went after that and I didn't care. I picked up my phone and called Richard. It was an overseas call and I knew that the charge would kill us both when the bill came but I didn't care, I needed to talk to him.

"Hello?" A sleepy Richard answered.

"Hey. It's me." I smiled.

"Lizzy? It's pretty late."

"I-I know, sorry, but I-I just needed to hear your voice." I sniffed, I had been crying before.

"Okay, what's up? You okay?" Richard said, he sounded worried but I assured him that everything was okay.

"So, how's the wedding so far?"

"It's been great; I saw a lot of people I knew. I had a great time."

"Yeah? Tell me about them." So we talked, for a half an hour, I think. I didn't know for how long but I knew that with each passing second, I was feeling better. I finally hung up; I looked at the clock on the stand and saw that it was already midnight. Glancing back at the phone, I saw that I had a message in my voice mail.

"Lizzy?" I listened. It was Darcy, he sounded drunk. "Would you please pick up? We need to talk. I know we talked but I seriously didn't mean anything by whatever I said. I feel really bad about it. Are you happy about this now? I feel terrible."

"Yeah, right." I said out loud.

"I've been meaning to tell you this…I missed you. And I'm sorry about Charles and Jane, it was all my fault, you're right. I want to fix up things between us but I can't because you're with Richard.

I'm really drunk, so after this, I have to call Charles. I'm taking Anne, Caroline, and Charles in a few days to England. I hope I can see you again there, if you do decide to call me sometimes, talk to Collins and get my number and address. I really do hope that you do this. I would really like to see you and I know that Anne would too. (By the way, I got your number from Collins.)"

"Will?" Someone in the background saying.

"Hi, Charles, I was going to call you. How did you know I was here?"

"Your sister told me that you checked in with her before you left."

"Oh."

"Will, what's the matter?" Apparently, Darcy placed his phone on the counter, not noticing that it was still on and carried on the conversation.

"Just drinking, Charles, just drinking."

"Did something happen?"

"Nothing at all, just lost the love of my life _again_."

"What happened? Did you and Caroline have another fight? The engagement's not off, is it?" Charlie asked, worried. Okay, I know Charlie's dense and all but after all the years of knowing Darcy, did he seriously think that Darcy loved his sister? Doesn't he know about the miscarriage?

"No, Charles, the engagement isn't off, but it wasn't Caroline that I was talking about."

"Then who?" Oh come on, Charlie….

"Elizabeth Bennet"

"Oh, then marrying Caroline...?"

"Me marrying Caroline was a moral responsibility. I had family honor to uphold. I mean, after what happened with Caroline, I just couldn't leave her."

"What did you do?" Charlie asked confused.

"Didn't she tell you? The whole miscarriage thing?" How does Charlie not know about this? I mean, Caroline was his sister and Darcy was his best friend after all?

"What are you talking about?" Okay…if Charlie doesn't even know about this, then who does know? Besides, Darcy, Caroline, and Anne Darcy, of course?

Darcy then recounted the brief version of what happened between Caroline and him, a version somewhat similar to what Anne Darcy told me. It was amazing that my voice mail held out for so long, I never knew that it could.

After listening to the whole story, Charlie (who obviously recovered from five shots of tequila earlier tonight) said to a drunken Darcy, "Will, there must be some mistake."

"What do you mean?" What was Charlie trying to say?

"Will, Caroline can't get pregnant." I sat there, stunned. What the hell? Listening to the voice mail has proven to be more life changing than anything else.

"What?"

"To put it simply, Caroline's incapable of producing kids. Or at least that's what her doctor said when she had that accident years ago. I'm sorry, Will, but I think my sister tricked you. I thought that your engagement was for real and that you two really did love each other… I guess I was wrong to assume."

"This is too much for me to process right now. My head hurts, Charles. Let's talk about something else." Darcy said, sounding mournful. I felt his sadness, I mean, how could someone do this to another person?

"Like what?"

"What are you going to do, now that you know about Jane?"

"I'm--" The message then ended. I groaned in anger, I wanted to hear the end of what Charlie was going to say. What was Charlie going to do?

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

I woke up the next morning in a daze. I took a shower. As I stood there in the hot water caressing my neck, I touched my lips, remembering what had happened the night before and what I had learned. It was all very new and confusing for me to process. I had a terrible headache also and spent the day cleaning up my room and packing up to go to the airport that night.

I stopped by Collins's place to greet Mary one last time before I left and to help her pack for her own trip. The newlyweds were going to go to France for their honeymoon, it was a nice way to end your wedding, and it was just a really sweet idea.

"I didn't see you most of the night, Lizzy. Where did you go?"

"I was just really tired, and drunk…I didn't want to do anything that would get Mrs. De Bourgh to bite my head off.

She laughed at this and assured me that Mrs. De Bourgh would never do that, she was far too kind. (Yeah…riiight.)

After saying goodbye to Mary, I went out to lunch with Anne de Bourgh. We both had a nice chat about the different details of the wedding and rated on what we had liked the best. Then we got to talking about the serious stuff.

"So, what is up with you and Will?" So I told her what had happened the night before. I told her about Charlie and about the conversation and everything. I even told her what I had heard on the phone message.

"Oh my god…what a bitch!" Anne said.

I nodded in agreement, "I actually feel sorry for Darcy."

"Well, I don't. If he's stupid and conceited enough, of course he's not going to tell anybody. He was this close to letting a worthless person into his life." Anne said, gesturing with her fingers how close it was.

"I suppose, I wonder what he's going to do now."

"My money's on him dumping her. She deserves it. Did you see what she was doing all night to him?"

I told her that I did notice. It wasn't like it was subtle.

"I think she was just threatened."

"Okay…?"

"Well, just think about it. I used to be Will's fiancé and you used to be his girlfriend. It's kind of obvious that she should be threaten by our presence."

"Good thing I've already found somebody, she could have Darcy all to herself."

"You still have feelings for Will, just admit it."

"And you do too. We're even." I smiled slightly, knowing that it was a touchy comment for the both of us to bear.

We were both silent for a moment, agreeing with each other. Then Anne de Bourgh said, "But Darcy and I, we can never be together."

"Well, the fact that you two are cousins doesn't make everything go over easy either." I commented, shuddering from just thinking about the word _cousins_. That word has not been kind to me ever since I got out of high school.

"Didn't anyone tell you? I'm adopted. So Darcy and I aren't blood related. But I get what you're saying; it would be socially unacceptable for people who don't know about the adoption thing."

"What!" I cried, trying to get Anne to explain herself more thoroughly.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Certainly this whole week has been one of the most troublesome and heart-breaking times of my life. It was just one revelation after another. I needed time to go through everything.

I stood there at the airport, near the flight board, looking down at the piece of paper gripped in my hand. It was a paper of Darcy's number and address in England that Collins had written down for me. I didn't know why, but I felt comforted just having it with me.

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

"Aunt Lizzy!" CJ and Jack screamed.

"Hey, you guys." I went over with my suitcase, hugging them once I dropped my things.

"I missed you guys."

"We missed you, too!"

"You didn't give your mom too much trouble why I was gone, did you?" I smiled at Jane as the twins shook their head. "Hey, Jane."

"Hey, Lizzy, did you have fun?"

"You have no idea, Jane. We need to talk later."

"Okay." Jane gave me one of her sweet smiles. You guessed it, I was going to tell what happened these last few days, I didn't know whether or not I was breaking her trust by telling Charlie but I thought that she had the right to know that the love of her life might, if he made the right decision, walk back into her life once again.

_A/N: Hey, you guys! Chapter 26 is finally undated, and after a week too! I'm on a row!_

_LOL, anyways, how did you like this chapter? Better yet, how is the story so far? I get the feeling that this chapter was really like a filler chapter, maybe not…I don't know._

_There's really nothing I could really say except that I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. For those of you who've been wondering what Richard's exact relationship to Darcy, well here it is. _

_Okay, Collins is the nephew of Catherine de Bourgh (Darcy's mom's sister; Darcy's real aunt), Richard is the real nephew of Catherine de Bourgh's husband (making him more like Anne de Bourgh's cousin than Darcy's) So, did that clear things up? I'm pretty sure that there's a name for that but I don't know what it is._

_Well, I hope you guys review because I've been so happy with the number of reviews so far! And now that I'm at 150 reviews, that just boost up my confidence of finishing this story which won't be until like 5-7 more chapters. So remember to review! _

_Thanks for reading, you guys!_

_(P.S. I've just finished this book called Enthusiasm by Polly Shulman. It was inspired by Jane Austen with influence of Pride and Prejudice. It was funny and cute and I just thought that you guys should know about it.) By the way, thanks for making it this far. :-) _


	27. The Dinner Party

_Disclaimer: I wish I could publish this because this story is so different from P&P but i'll have to say that this was basically all Jane Austen. She's a literary genious! Plus, I have to give credit to Gilmore Girls and Grey's Anatomy. For those of you who know the shows then you will see where I have used either their storyline or quotes in this chapter._**  
**

**The hottest love has the coldest end. Socrates  
**

**Chapter XXVII: The Dinner Party  
**

It was really good to be back home. It was very comforting to know that I was now at a place that had people there that I actually knew, like Jane for example.

The week that I had been gone didn't change Jane at all. It was still amazing how she could still be so cheery. It pained me to see Jane like this because this was her way of making herself feel better. She needed somebody and it was like the right person wasn't there to comfort her.

Jane, sensing that there was something big and wrong, decided not to remind me what we needed to talk about. I had not remember either, as I was pretty busy visiting Richard.

I had felt guilty, of course. I mean, some people would've said that I was cheating. I didn't think I was but it didn't make a difference on how guilty I felt for leaving Richard in the dark.

We spent a week together, with whatever free time we had, planning for the wedding. We decided that we were both planning for this event because everybody knew that I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted and I sure wasn't decisive either.

It wasn't to say that everything was fine and dandy between Richard and me. He could sense that there was something different, slightly wrong, with me. He didn't know what it was but made him a little worried and a little angry because I wouldn't tell him. He would get over it, I know. But he was uncomfortable that for the first time in our relationship, I was avoiding to tell him something.

Did you guys think that I should've told him? Would it have made everything better?

* * *

I was at home one day while Jane and the twins were at school when my phone rang. I looked at the number and saw that it was an unfamiliar number. I didn't know who it was. 

"Hello?" I answered the phone.

"Lizzy?" I knew that voice, it was Charlie. Has he decided? Has he made a decision? The right one?

"Charlie…how's it going?" I asked.

"Ummm…good, I guess. I'm in England." He sounded as if he was scared of what i might've said to that.

"Oh, is that good?"

"Yeah, it should be. I-I jus-just…umm. Is there anyway I could speak to Jane?"

"She's out right now. Plus it would be kind of awkward to suddenly have your ex-boyfriend call you out of nowhere, don't you think?"

"I guess you're right. Then how can I see her?"

"That depends, do you want her back but more importantly, does she want you back?"

"After all this, I don't think so, but I would really like to see her."

"I don't know if I should be happy about this."

"I don't know either, it's just…it's just the right thing to do."

"'_The right thing to do_' doesn't cut it, Charlie. It doesn't at all." I yelled at the phone. I was so caught up in this phone call that I didn't even hear Jane walking into the room. She hushed the twins and gestured them to their rooms.

I turned around and saw her. Her eyes were wide open, as if she hoped it was a co-worker that I was talking to. I took her arm and walked to her room. I pressed the button that put the call on speakerphone. Charlie's voice filled the room.

"I'm sorry, Lizzy. But I really don't know what to do."

Jane listened and her eyes automatically filled with tears. For some reason, she didn't speak up. Maybe it was because she was denying to herself that this wasn't who she thought it would be. Maybe it was some random stranger that she didn't need to give a thought about.

"After what you told me at the wedding, I just couldn't stop thinking how much I had hurt Jane. I was such a moron, listening to Will. I shouldn't have let Jane go."

"Charlie, I think that you need more time to think about this."

"No, I've thought this through. I need to see her. I still love her and if I could change things, I would. But I can't, so I'm dealing with this as best as I can. I just…I just need to see her."

"Well, she's not here. I'll call you back about this, okay?" And then I hung up.

I looked at Jane and saw that her eyes were deep red. She had her hand covered over her mouth, trying in vain to not make a sound. When I had hung up, she let out the first of many cries. I hug her tight and we stayed that way for quite a while. I was just there for her, letting her cry because it was what she really needed at the moment.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Jane." I said after Jane had finally wiped her tears with some tissues. 

"Nothing you should be sorry about." Jane tried to smile but she just made her face crinkled.

"Yeah, there is, I shouldn't have told Charlie if I knew how much it would hurt you."

"No, no, Lizzy, it's just that after all these years, I never thought I would hear his voice again."

"So, you're okay with Charlie knowing?"

"Why shouldn't he? He deserves to know, after all."

"What happens now?" I asked after a long pause.

"I don't know."

"Do you want him back in your life?"

"Yeah... I do. But…there's just so much baggage."

"That's okay. If you want to see him again, then I'll set things up if you want." I put on a cheery smile on.

"What are you going to do?" Jane asked, cautiously.

"We're going to have a dinner party." I said, triumphantly.

* * *

So, we were having a dinner party. It was going to be fun, right? Well, that wasn't exactly how it all worked itself out. At least, not for me. 

"So, who did you invite, exactly?" Jane asked me as we were both cooking in the kitchen.

"Richard and Charlie and Anne Darcy." Yes, I invited Anne to come because she was Anne Darcy after all. I really did want to see her more.

"On the plus side, Darcy's not coming." I had told Jane what happened and of course, she was mortified about _everything_. She was really worried about Richard and what might happened if he found out. I shared the same feelings as she did as well. I just wished that this night would end well.

"And why isn't he coming?"

"Anne said that he had something to do. But it doesn't matter because at least the dinner would go well tonight." The doorbell suddenly rang.

"You never know, Lizzy." Jane said as she walked out to get the door.

I was cutting up the tomatoes for the salad when Richard popped his head in the kitchen doorway with a wine glass in his hand.

"I see you're tackling the easy stuff first." He laughed.

"Because I was hoping somebody like you would help me." I came over and gave him a kiss.

When he finally broke away, he said. "You know, it's not like you to have a dinner party."

"Well, someone very special is coming."

"Who?"

"CJ and Jack's dad." I said simply. I watched Richard's face turned from disbelief to confusion.

"I don't know what to say to this."

"You don't have to say anything. Just try to have a good time."

"I mean the twins…"

"You're right; they've never met him before."

"This is going to be really interesting."

"Perhaps it will be. Now come help me with this fish."

* * *

"Who else is coming to this dinner, Aunt Lizzy?" Jack asked as we sat on the couch (Richard kicked me out of the kitchen.) with our juice boxes. 

"Just some old friends of your mom and me."

"How old?" CJ asked. She was always the curious person in the family.

"Like a few years before you guys were born."

"Do we know them?" Jack asked."

"No, I don't think so." I smiled. The doorbell then rang. I got up and went to the door.

"Hey, Charlie, Anne, thanks for coming." I opened the door to see a very happy Anne Darcy and a very nervous Charlie Bingley standing in the doorway.

"Lizzy!" Anne grinned and hugged me. Charlie was still standing there, silent.

"Charlie, I'm doing this so that both you and Jane could be happy, don't back out on me." I said sternly.

Charlie let out a breath and said 'hi' to me and walked in.

After Charlie had come in, I looked up to see the last person I could possibly want at this dinner party.

I stood there with a stunned look on my face.

"What? No 'hello' for me? I guess you're right, I did basically invite myself to this dinner." Darcy said cockily.

"When did you advance in the art of being an ass?"

"Since I found out that you didn't invite me to your dinner. I decided that I would play your games my way."

"Anne said that you were doing something. And besides, there is no game." I gestured him in.

He walked in and looked around. He seemed to be pleased but nonetheless, I could still see the snobbish look that I only knew too well.

"Anything to your dislike?" I asked, standing there beside him.

"Nothing at all, it seems like you really did well on your own."

"Women can live on their own, Darcy. They're not defined by which guy they're with."

"I suppose that Richard is here?" Darcy said, there was no emotion in voice. He was just stiff and snobbish. It reminded me so much of when I first met him at Charlie's party. Oh, how memories….

"Yeah, he is. Is that a problem for the newly unemotional robot?"

"No, it's not. I'm just wondering if he knows about us?"

"He doesn't and he won't know anytime soon. Now, will he?" I spoke sternly. I didn't know what the consequences would be if Richard knew. From Darcy nonetheless.

He gave out a laugh and just walked into the living room where everybody else was.

"Will!" Jane called out. She walked over and hugged him. He gave her a hug back. She was overjoyed that he was here. (I certainly wasn't!)

I looked at Jane and Charlie. They obviously made up pretty quickly but that may be just me. They were all laughing and smiling at each other. I wonder what was up with them.

"Lizzy, you didn't say that Will was coming." Richard smiled at me.

"I didn't know either." I faked a smile.

This was going to be a fun night, right? Right. (I feel repetitive right now, but I swear that this was a really crucial question.)

* * *

CJ and Jack seemed to have taken a liking to Charlie. They found him to be very nice and funny. (They laughed at him, not with him.) Jane was very pleased with all this, I think. She didn't seem to mind it much, really. 

Richard, Darcy, and I were on pins and needles with each other. Richard enjoyed seeing Darcy there again. (They are 'family' after all.) But he sensed that there was something that was bothering me, but I just didn't tell him what it was.

"Will, what did you think of Frances's wedding. Fill me in; I'm sure Aunt Catherine had a fit over me not being able to come." Richard asked as we were having our desserts.

"It was great. I mean, it was Aunt Catherine, after all, who planned it."

Richard laughed and said that he knew what Darcy was meant.

"Anything interesting happened?" he asked.

"Nothing happened, nothing at all. Why would you think there would be anything that happened there?" I piped in quickly. After I had said it, I realized that I was sounding very suspicious. That would be a bad thing, right?

"Lizzy…? Is there something that I should know about?"

"Nothing, just two old college classmates catching up on things, that's all." I said, calming myself down.

"Surely more than classmates." Charlie said, confused. Oh my God, Charlie was completely oblivious to the situation!

"What do you mean?" Richard asked.

"Didn't she tell you? Will and Lizzy used to date—OWW!" Charlie screamed as there was a loud bang sound coming from Jane who was sitting across from where he was.

Richard was quiet. As a matter of fact, the whole table was silent.

"Lizzy, can I talk to you outside, please?"

* * *

"'_Two old college classmates_', Lizzy?" Richard yelled at me when we had stepped outside. 

"I know, Richard, I know exactly how you feel." I said, begging.

"Do you, Lizzy? Do you have anything idea how hurt I am to find out that you and Will use to date? The fact that you lied about it, didn't help either."

"I know, it's just that it was something that didn't need to be known."

"Why?" Richard asked, disbelievingly.

"Because it was Darcy who broke up Jane and Charlie in the first place."

"That's not something to lie about. I knew about Jane's situation."

"I'm sorry, Richard. But hey," I whispered as I walked over to hug him tight to calm him down.. "I broke up him a long time ago. I'm with you now."

"I just don't know what to say about all this. I guess it could be worse. Like if you and Will kissed at the wedding." Richard chuckled but stopped when he saw that I was silent.

"You guys didn't, did you?" He asked, afraid of the answer.

"It was just once, and Will was pretty intoxicated. I was, too."

"Lizzy, I know you. When you're drunk, you're just clumsy. You know exactly what you were doing." Richard released himself from the hug and left quickly to go inside.

I ran back inside, begging him to hear what I had to say. But he didn't have any of it and got his coat. I begged and begged for him not to leave. But he left without saying a word.

I walked back to the dining room slowly, quietly crying. Everybody looked at me with sympathy in their eyes. I told them that I was going to be in my room and that they should enjoy the rest of the evening, like a good co-hostess should say, and made my way up to my room.

* * *

So I was there, in my room, crying my eyes out. It was a terrible feeling. My body ached all over and I couldn't stop crying. What was I going to do? I tried calling Richard but he didn't pick up. Was he going to talk to me again? What happens now? 

After I felt like I could control my tears, I ran my hands on the soft carpet and felt something smooth. I looked down and saw that it was a letter.

It was a curious thing. It was a cream color letter that had _Lizzy_ written on it. I took out the letter and read:

_Lizzy,_

_I know that I'm not much of a letter writer. But I think that this would get to you faster than just me trying to talk to you. _

_Look, I'm sorry about Richard. He shouldn't have found out like that. I apologize for Charlie; he was an idiot. _

_On the upside, he and Jane seem to be getting along. The twins are pretty cute. They look a lot like their parents. But Christina Jacquelyn seemed to have gotten her wit and curiosity from you. She reminded everybody of you._

_Lizzy, everything will work itself in the end. Don't worry about it too much. You're a great girl. Richard would be stupid if he didn't realize that you love him. (That, I've come to terms with.) At least, I know I was stupid to let you go. And if it weren't for you being with Richard, I would've stolen you from anybody. _

_But Richard is a great guy. In comparison, he's the better guy. He wouldn't hurt you like I did. I'm sorry for whatever I did. _

_By the way, Charlie and Anne wanted to say goodbye but they thought that you needed some privacy right now. But the fact that they both wanted to take the twins out with Jane to go to the movies helped too. At least the place is quiet so that I could write you this letter. _

_I guess we'll both be alone tonight._

_Still waiting,  
Will Darcy_

I read the letter over and over again. Darcy was still waiting. Why? Why would he do something like that?

I stood up and grabbed my car keys from my nightstand. I went down the stairs and wrote Jane a note, telling her I might not come home that night.

* * *

I looked at my piece of paper that had Darcy's address on it and looked up to see if I had the right place. Yeah, you can't really help but notice the really big expensive-looking house on the corner of the street. 

I got out and walked up the steps to the door, and knocked. I waited and Darcy opened it.

"Lizzy, what are you doing here?"

"You're still waiting." And with that, I kissed him.

At first, he didn't really know what was happening but he soon got it and wrapped his arms around me and led me, while we were still kissing, to his bedroom_  
_

* * *

_ A/N: Hey everybody! What's up? I had this idea of a dinner party and just wanted the chapter to be put out. I fixed the chapter to the best of my abilities as I can.  
_

_So, how did you like this? Was it good? This probably means that there is only a few more chapters before this stories ends. I'm sorry but I will continue to write other P&P stories for you guys if you want me to. _

_I can't think of anything else to say so here is the part where I thank everybody for reading and that I will talk to you guys later! _

**_Remember to review!_**

_(P.S. It'll probably be a while until the next update because I'm having some love problems myself, just like Lizzy. but on the bright side, I learned how to put those breaks in!)_

_Also: I read the reviews and know that this is a little drastic for Lizzy to do such a thing. But hey, she's pretty unstable that whole night. You'll just have to wait to read how the next chapter will play itself out. It's going to be awesome as Lizzy realizes what she exactly did. **Thanks for reading!**  
_


	28. The Aftermath of One Night & Five Years

**Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. Franklin P. Jones**

**Chapter XXVIII: The Aftermath of One Night & Fiver Years**

So, what was sleeping with Darcy like? It was amazing to say the least. It was like having the most gorgeous guy with you and you're the only person he wanted that night (which was what it really was). Thinking about it gave me chills all over.

But what was the aftermath of all this? Well, I'll have to begin to when I kissed Darcy at his doorstep.

Darcy led me to his room when he realized that this may be the only chance he would have with me again. If I had taken one look at the place, I would've said that this was classic Darcy style with its paintings and furniture…but I didn't because all I could think about was what I was doing at the moment.

Once we got into the bedroom and had slammed the door behind us, we fell onto his bed and continued to kiss. Somehow, I managed to get myself pushed upright so that my back was pressed hard against the headboard.

There was just something about this moment that wouldn't allow us to break away from the kiss to get some air. There were sparks flying everywhere, passion every time I ran my hands through his hair and down his shoulders.

Our kiss did break a couple of times but that was because our clothes just couldn't stay on for long, now can it?

We soon moved on from kissing on our lips to Will (name change!) trailing his lips down my neck.

That was when he finally spoke what was on his mind. "Lizzy, would this a mistake?"

I didn't answer his question, just gently led his lips back to mine and deepened the kiss.

**This is where we both slowly lied back down on the bed and the lights dim down.**

* * *

"Will, it's time to wake up. You know, you really shouldn't go to bed late, it messes up your sleep pattern and your brain and stuff." Anne said as she walked right into Will's room and started pulled up the blinds. 

I heard the voice and felt the sunlight in my eyes and instantly woke up. Anne was still ranting on about the brain when she turned around and said,

"Will, why aren't you--" She stopped when she saw that I had sat up with the bed sheets covering my body with a horrid expression on my face.

Will decided then to wake up too. He sat up and rubbed his face so that he was able to think more clearly. He looked from me to Anne and subsequently made the connection of what just happened.

"I'm-I'm going to go now." Anne ran out of the room, blushing, quietly muttering "Sorry for interrupting.", closing the door behind her.

There was a brief silence when I turned to Will and said sarcastically, "You didn't lock the door?"

Will just sat back against the headboard, running both his hands through his hair, and thinking.

* * *

I got out of the bed with the sheets still wrapped around me and scrambled to get my clothes together. 

There wasn't a lot but the whole time I was looking for my underwear, I was whispering "oh my god" over and over again.

"You're panicking." I looked over the bed and saw that Will was still where he was when I got out of the bed.

"Maybe it's just me, but you should be too."

"What's there to panic about?"

"Have you gone insane?" I yelled at him. "Why wouldn't I be panicking?"

"Calm down, Lizzy." he tried to soothe me but it didn't work. I was far gone from calming down.

"How can I calm down when your sister just caught us in bed…together…at the same time?"

"Well, it would be quite hard to catch us in bed together at two different times, wouldn't you think?"

"Not the time to make jokes, Will."

"Okay, but you shouldn't be panicking."

I yelled out in frustration. My pulse was racing and I didn't know what to do! I got my clothes on and proceeded to run out the door when Will stopped me.

"Hey, you're not going anywhere until we've talked about this."

"You're right, we do need to talk about this…just not right now. I need to get back to Jane and…and…" I found my self loss for words.

"Back to Richard?" Will said with the tone hurt in his voice.

I was silent, confirming his belief.

"So, this was a mistake to you, wasn't it?" he asked quietly.

"No." I said firmly. "A little ill-timed, but not a mistake. It's just that my engagement shouldn't end over an argument. Five years shouldn't end over an argument."

"So, what happens now?" Will asked.

"I need time; I need to talk to Richard. I need you to wait until I'm ready."

"I don't know how long though."

"I don't know either." I faintly smiled and left his bedroom.

I slipped out of the house, unnoticed. (Probably because Charlie and Anne were hiding somewhere in the house.)

* * *

"Lizzy! Where have you been? I was so worried when you didn't pick up your phone." Jane cried as I opened the front door. 

"Sorry, I wrote you a note."

"Well, that didn't cut it. Where did you go?"

"Somewhere."

"Now, wait, I know where that is. Is it near 'nowhere' or 'anywhere'?" She pretended ponderingly.

"Just somewhere. How was the movie?"

"It was good." She said. "The kids liked it."

"Yeah…? So, tell me, any emotional discomfort that I should know about?"

"Not really. I mean, it was a shock to see somebody for the first time in five years but it's not something that a dinner party shouldn't fix. And you? How are you holding up?" Jane asked. As happy as she was to see Charlie again, she never missed a chance to ask others how they were doing.

"I'm doing great."

"Give it a couple of days; I'm sure Richard will forgive you by then. I mean, it was just a small fight. Everything will patch up eventually. You can't get married angry at each other, you know?" Jane joked, only I wasn't laughing with her.

I just smiled faintly and told her that I didn't think that there would be a marriage.

"What? What do you mean?"

"Richard and I won't get married."

"But you still have the ring." Jane said as she looked at the engagement ring I still had on my finger. I had put it on this morning when I found it on the nightstand. I guess I took it off unknowingly. That was my first clue that this wedding and this relationship was ending.

"Yeah, but this fight, it was the end."

"Did he say that?" Jane asked, worried, leading me to the couch.

"No, it's a gut feeling that I have."

"Maybe it's just cold feet." Jane said.

"No, Jane."

"Well, it's just a fight, it'll go away."

"No, it won't, Jane."

"But you guys have been together for five years; it wouldn't make sense that a fight like that would end such a long relationship. It just doesn't-" Jane ranted on when I stopped her mid-sentence.

"Jane, I slept with Will last night. I slept with him and I didn't feel like I made a mistake. That's why.… That's why Richard and I are over."

Jane was silent, she understood. I sat there with her and we both stared into space.

* * *

I went to work as usual that week. I avoided people. I avoided all the phone calls that I've had from Will and from Anne. I didn't want to talk to anybody (except with Jane and the twins, but that was only because I lived with them) until I was sure that I've had all this figured out. 

I finally was ready two weeks later. It was hard, you know, avoiding people. Especially when you have an uncanny habit of being optimistic about greeting everybody.

Richard hasn't called me yet but I was sure that he has forgiven me. How did I know that? Because I've known Richard for a long time. He wasn't the type of guy that avoided people when he's mad. No, he was the guy who confronted people and tried to work things out.

Well anyways, I decided that Richard and I really needed to talk. So I went to the hospital to speak to him. And you know what? Richard was still mad at me. I know, I completely contradicted myself but he really was still furious at me.

I was walking around the surgical floor to look for him when I finally spotted him looking at a chart by the nurses' station.

"If you start being that serious about life, Richard," I joked slightly, noting the seriousness of him reading his charts. "Then what fun would living be."

"Was that supposed to be funny? It didn't even make sense." Richard said unemotionally when he looked up to see me.

"I know... but I didn't come here to make jokes."

"I'm quite busy now, so I have no time to hear whatever you have to say."

"Ouch, that hurts, but I completely understand. That's why I have the day off today. I'll wait for you."

"I don't know when I would be able to get off."

"Well, here's the deal. There's a bar down the block from here. It's the only one. I'll be there today and I will wait until it closes for you to come talk to me. If you don't come, then that tells me that our friendship may never be the same again and we may never see each other again. I advise you to come, Richard." I turned around and walked out of the building.

Before I walked into the bar to tell the bartender that I would be there for a long time, I stopped at a bookstore to pick up a book. I chose something truly funny and yet sad at the same time as at that point, that was how I reflected on my life.

* * *

"Another one please, Nick." I said as my watch said that it was 15 minutes before ten 'o clock. 

"That's like your tenth one tonight." The bartender said with concern and humor in his tone.

"It's a Sprite. It would do me no harm then the chance of getting diabetes."

"I don't know about this, but I'm pretty sure that that's not something somebody would like to have."

"Better than dying from alcohol intoxication." I laughed.

I went back to my reading (I was almost done!) when the bartender went away to tend to another customer.

"Excuse me, could I have a beer, please?" Richard asked when he sat down beside me. He was still very unemotional in the way he talked. It scared me that this was someone that Richard could become. Whatever happened to the fun-loving person I knew?

"You came." I stated happily.

"Yeah." He just said as the bartender gave him his beer. We both just looked away from each other and stared off into space, drinking our drinks.

After about ten minutes later, I finally made my say.

"This was what I asked you to come talk about with me tonight." I said as I slid the velvet box with my engagement ring in it over to Richard.

He looked at it with confusion and opened it to see the ring.

"So this is the end, huh?" he said.

"Not to our friendship. I still want us to be friends, no matter how cliché that may sound."

"What happened to us?"

"Nothing, it was me. I didn't know how much I had truly gotten over Will. When I saw him again, all these memories came right back to me. I was very confused."

"So there's no way that we could ever be the same, huh?"

"No, I don't think so. But everything will work out in the end."

"Yeah."

"I have to go now." I stood up from my stool and gave him a hug and his head a kiss and told him that we should do something together sometimes, like we used to do.

"Yeah, we should." Richard said quietly.

* * *

"Hey, Jane! I'm home." I called out as I placed my keys on the table next to the door. 

"Lizzy! Where have you been? I've been calling and calling you?"

"Did you need me or something?" I asked to see Jane, who looked very worried and nervous at the same time.

"You have a guest."

"At this time of night? Who could it be?"

"Will's aunt." Jane said simply.

"What?" I whispered in horror.

"She came about an hour ago. She's been waiting this whole time, insisting that she needed to speak to you."

"Oh, great." I said sarcastically. I put on a fake smile and walked into the living room.

"Mrs. De Bourgh. What is it that I have the pleasure of having you at this time of night?" I asked as I saw the woman sitting on the couch, looking around the room to her displeasure and in straightening herself when she turned to look at me.

"Miss Bennet." Mrs. De Bourgh stood up. "I have urgent important matters to speak to you about. Would you step outside with me?"

"What would that 'matter' be about?" I asked curiously but I wished I hadn't because Mrs. De Bourgh spoke even more sternly at me than before.

"It concerns you and all three of my nephews. Especially William Darcy."

This was going to be hell.

* * *

_A/N: Hola, everybody! What's up?_

_Anyways, a new chapter has come upon us and I hope that this chapter pleases you as much as it did to me because Lizzy can finally be with Darcy! (If she can get through this conversation with Mrs. De Bourgh alive!!)_

_I liked this chapter but it may be a filler for you guys. As you can probably tell, the story is nearing its end pretty soon. Actually this is the third to last chapter. I shall continue writing, I can promise you that._

_**I've already revised this chapter. Please forgive me if there are still mistakes, that would just be me and my horrible grammar skills.** I'm reading Utopia now so I would have that much time to revise this today. Thanks for you patience!_

_Thanks to everybody for reviewing and reading. It makes me so happy! Okay, I will try to update the next chapter as soon as I can but first, I have to write!_

_Remember to review because you know that it would make me very happy and motivated to write more._

**_Happy Halloween!_**


	29. This Isn't What?

**Most people assume the fights are going to be the left versus the right, but it always is the reasonable versus the jerks.**

**Jimmy Wales**

**Chapter XXIX: This Isn't What?**

Oh great, I get to have a completely idiotic conversation with Mrs. De Bourgh about the situation between me, Collins, Will, and Richard. This was not something I felt like talking about right after I had broken up with Richard. Unfortunately, Mrs. De Bourgh was not somebody you could say 'no' to, not because she was so nice, but because she was so…mean-looking. (I'm sure that if she tried, she could probably kick me ass. Or at least pay people to kick my ass.)

When I insisted that we stay in the living room because it was a little cold outside, Mrs. De Bourgh took the initiative to start the conversation. (Jane had left to check on the twins.)

"Miss Bennet, what are your intentions with my family?" she asked with a stiff- upper lip.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this." Mrs. De Bourgh said as she dug around inside her clutch bag and pulled out a picture.

I slowly reached out to take the picture from her and looked at it. If this hasn't been overly done, then you can probably guess what the picture showed. Yep, somebody took a picture of Will and me kissing. It was embarrassing to say the least, I mean to actually have someone take a picture of that…?

"Where did you get this?" I whispered, holding the photograph in my hands.

"Caroline Bingley gave it to me. She was Will's fiancée at the time. Did you know that, Miss Bennet?"

"Yes, yes, I did know that." I faked a weak smile.

"Then why would you think that it would be appropriate to kiss my nephew?"

"I don't know."

"And what Caroline told me when she gave me this picture was utterly unacceptable to my ears. To think that you have fooled me in such a way."

"How have I 'fooled' you?" I asked, confused about what this was all leading up to.

"I know everything about you and Will. And I finally understood why Frances wanted you at his wedding so much. And why Richard is so crazy about marrying you." Mrs. De Bourgh said in a slur. She was angry, I could tell you that much.

"Oh." I said quietly. What could I say to all this?

"'Oh'? That's all you have to say for yourself. This is a disgrace that a girl such as yourself should have such a clutch over my family."

"I don't know what to say. I'm not a bad person or a disgrace."

"Yes, you are. Not only did you break up my daughter and Will, you also broke up him and Caroline, who was finally the one thing that Will's done right in all of his relationships."

"I think you've had it wrong there, Mrs. De Bourgh. I didn't break Caroline and Will up. It was Caroline who lied about everything. I'm sorry, but I don't think that my relationships have anything to do with you. You have no right to accuse me of anything." I was starting to get irritated. This was not how I wanted to end my night.

"This does concern me, because it concerns my family. I will not have you ruin my family's reputation by sleeping around with all my nephews!"

"I think you're exaggerating a bit." I said. Just as I said that, the doorbell rang and I tried to excuse myself to get the door.

"Leave it; I'm sure that girl would get it." She said snobbishly.

"_That girl_ happens to be my cousin. She has a name, Jane. She deserves as much respect here (maybe more) as you do."

"Oh, I've heard about your cousin, _Jane_. Yes, Caroline told me about her. It's surprising, really. I guess greediness and lust does run in the family."

"Aunt Catherine!" Mrs. De Bourgh and I both turned around to see Will standing at the doorway leading to the living room. He seemed to have ran here because he was breathing heavily a little to catch his breath.

"Will! What are you doing here?" Mrs. De Bourgh said with a sound of surprise in her voice. And yet her face was still unchanging.

"I would love to ask you the same thing, Aunt Catherine. But after hearing what you just said about Jane, I have no more reason to ask." He said as he slowly walked towards her, stopping to stand a little in front of me.

"Was I not wrong in making that assumption?" Will's aunt asked. "Caroline told me all about Jane. How she tried to seduce her brother into marrying her…I'm glad that he got rid of her."

"Aunt Catherine…" Will warned.

"Actually, you would be wrong there, Mrs. De Bourgh. You see, people marry for true love nowadays, not how much money is in their back accounts. Jane and Charlie happen to love each other, they're starting slow but they're getting there."

"It's not exactly music to my ears but I'm sure if he wants to ruin his life, then so be it. But I will not allow anyone with the likes of you to ruin my nephew's chance at happiness."

"Aunt Catherine, this is not the time. This is not the place either. Whatever Caroline told you have been overly exaggerated. Don't believe her stories. Don't believe her at all."

"Caroline is a nice respectable young woman and I refuse to believe that this _girl_ here is better." She said, pointing to me. This was really insulting but I was taking it with my chin-up. I was Elizabeth Bennet; I didn't take insults in a cowardly manner.

"Lizzy is ten times better than Caroline will ever be." Will said firmly. And again for the second time in the night, the door bell rang. What was up with people visiting tonight?

Of all the people who could've walked through that doorway, could you believe who did? That's right, it was Richard. My life seemed to be getting stranger by the hour.

"Richard." I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see you but…" He stopped when he saw that he was standing in the room with the man that was the reason his ex-fiancée left him and his aunt. "…I see that you have company."

"Aunt Catherine." He went over to greet her. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing, I'm just talking to Miss Bennet about how she should stay away from my family." She was really good at this subtle thing. She was calm and collected, yet the impact of her words made the room very quiet.

"Aunt Catherine, this isn't the problem." Will said.

"Don't even say anything, Will." Richard tensed. Oh my god, this could not be happening.

"What's going on here?" Mrs. De Bourgh said as she looked at the two men staring at each other with cold eyes.

"Richard, Will, please, this isn't the time." I said, looking at both of them.

"Lizzy, I came here tonight because I wanted to ask if you would reconsider the engagement. I didn't expect that _he_ would be here." Richard said as he looked at me.

"Richard, I just left you an hour ago. I told you, I can't marry you. It's just not going to happen. You were fine about this when I left." I said. Will and Mrs. De Bourgh just stared at the two of us but that didn't really matter at the moment because it was just me, dealing with Richard.

"But, Lizzy, I understand the lying thing and I could forgive you kissing _him_. Why can't we just get back to the way we used to?" He asked, begging.

"Richard!" I yelled out of frustration. "I can't get back with you because the night that you left the dinner party, I slept with Will. That's why. I didn't want to tell you this but I wasn't drunk or anything. It was my own decision."

"What?" Richard looked down as he whispered this.

"Lizzy." Will started, standing behind Richard. "This isn't the right-"

Will didn't get to finish what he wanted to say because the next minute, he was on the floor, holding his jaw which looked like it was going to start to bleed. I quickly rushed down to help Will as Mrs. De Bourgh yelled at Richard, asking him what he was doing.

Richard just stood there, hands clenched, saying, "That's for sleeping with my fiancée, Bastard!" and with that, he left.

* * *

Once Richard was gone, I didn't know what else to do but to run after him.

"Richard!" I yelled, "What the hell was that?"

"What did you expect me to do when you told me that, Lizzy?" He yelled back, once he turned around to face me.

"I don't know but I don't think punching Will in front of your aunt was a good idea either."

"Well, you know what? I don't care; I've been meaning to do two two weeks now."

"You know what this means, right?" I asked him with a look of calm on my face.

"Yeah, I know. I acted upon my feelings and it came out bad." He said, looking down.

"Yeah…but I really wanted us to end well and you…"

"I made it harder." He finished my sentence.

"Maybe we shouldn't see each other for a while, just to wait for everything to go away."

"Yeah…" Richard said as he turned around and continued to walk away.

I didn't see Richard for quite some time after that night. I never called him and he never called me. We avoided each other as much as possible. But eventually, I decided that this was a friendship that I didn't want to be gone forever, so I called him one night and asked if he and I could go have lunch. We've been friends ever since then.

* * *

Anyways, back to the story. As I watched Richard get into his car and drove away, I suddenly realized that Will was still on the floor, bleeding. 

I ran back into the house to see Jane helping Will with an ice pack. Mrs. De Bourgh was just sitting there, looking at Will and then looking at Jane with a look of disgust. She was probably thinking of all the things that Caroline told her.

I kneeled down and touched Will's knee lightly and said, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." He whispered back with a smile.

We kind of looked at each other for a moment which apparently ticked his aunt off quite a bit, because she the yelled, "Oh, would you snap out of it, Will! Can't you see that she's using you like she did with Frances and Richard?"

"Aunt Catherine, you don't know what you're talking about." Will said in defense.

"Don't I?" She asked, pointing to herself.

"No, you don't. Lizzy is a wonderful girl and if it weren't for everything that's happened, I would've married her a long time ago." He stood up to emphasize his point. I didn't know what to make all of this really. Yes, I was really as weak as I seemed to be but there really wasn't anything that I could do or say at the moment.

"'_Marry her'_? Do you know how much disgrace you would bring to the family if you married this insolent girl?"

"More than you could ever dream of, Aunt Catherine."

"I won't allow, I will never allow this marriage to happen."

"There's nothing that you could do about this." He said.

"I refuse, this is something that I absolutely refuse to ever allow to happen!" and with that, she stormed out of the house.

* * *

"Wow…today just keeps on getting crazier and more dramatic." I concluded as I gently laid some more ice onto Will's jaw. 

"Yeah…" He said, looking at me. He was looking at me with those eyes again. One part of me wanted to smile but the other part just wanted more time alone.

"Why'd you come here tonight?"

"Anne told me that my aunt was in town but that she wanted to know where you lived and I infered from there."

"I feel so bad now. Your aunt's mad at you."

"My aunt's always angry at me. It's her thing."

"Oh…"

And the pause monster eats us up once again. We just sat there on the couch, looking at each other.

Finally, Will started to speak up first. "About what I said tonight... about the marriage thing…"

"Will, I don't know what to say…I still need more time to adjust to all this…this is going too fast." That's right; I was rambling, big time. Good thing Will stopped me.

"I should go." He said as he slowly stood up, letting go of my hand.

"Will…." I started to say.

"No, I understand that you need more time. Just don't take too long." He left, just like Richard, only this time I didn't go after him.

* * *

When I was alone in the living room, I laid down on the couch that I was sitting on and stared at the ceiling. I thought about everything that happened and it pained me to realize that I might have managed to ruin my chance at happiness. 

Thinking about happiness led me to question whether or not I was happy now. That really depended on in which context. I was happy with my job and I was happy with my house, living with Jane and the twins…. Speaking of Jane and the twins…

"Hey." I said as I stood at the doorway to CJ and Jack's room, looking at Jane sitting on Jack's bed.

She was gazing at them, holding his hand. When she heard my voice, she turned around and smiled.

"Hey, is everything okay?" she asked sweetly.

"It should be, but I don't know if it is." I walked over and sat across from Jane on CJ's bed. The twins were both sleeping so quietly, the room was quiet too.

"Can you believe it, Lizzy?" Jane started to say. "They grow up so fast. I remember when we first named them together."

I agreed with her. "So much has happened over the years."

"Yeah." She paused. She looked up to face me. "You know, Charlie asked me to go to this dinner-function-thingy that his company is hosting and he wants me to be his date."

"That's good. Did you say 'yes'?" I grinned, thinking that this was a perfect opportunity to finally unite Jane and Charlie again.

"I told him that I would think about it."

"Why? Don't you want to go?"

"Yes, but…don't you think that this is a little too fast for us, considering everything that's happened in the past weeks."

"No, I don't think this is going too fast. You're questioning yourself and this too much. Just think of it as picking up where you and Charlie left off five years ago."

"Will you at least go with me?" she said after a pause.

"Where?" I asked back.

"To the function."

"Oh, Jane, I don't want to be the third wheel. That would be weird and awkward."

"Lizzy," Jane said, reaching for my hand. "Please, I need you there. I don't think I would be ready for this if you weren't there."

"But the twins…"

"We can find someone to look after them. Please, Lizzy?"

I looked into Jane's eyes. She really wanted me to go. I guess there wasn't anything I could say. "Fine, I'll go, but under one condition."

"What?"

"I'm not going to baby sit you the whole night. I'm only going to be there for the occasional moral support, nothing else."

"Okay."

* * *

The next week was spent preparing for this function of Charlie's. It was to be pretty formal and Jane and I had no idea what we were going to wear to such a formal event. 

We spent hours at the mall, shopping with the twins. CJ and Jack had a lot of fun too; they loved giving us their opinions.

I think they kind of sensed what was happening at the time between their mom and "Mr. Charlie", but they just couldn't ask yet until they knew for sure.

Charlie was happy that I was coming along. He told me once, later, that he was glad that I was coming because he didn't know how awkward the night would've been if I wasn't there.

Anyways, one night later, Jane and I prepared to go to the dinner. It was to be held at a fancy ballroom at a big hotel (like most functions) and there was going to be a lot of music and dancing. Yep, it was the social kind of functions where you actually need to know the people.

I guess it was okay, considering what happened…

* * *

Charlie picked us up in a fancy car and told us that this was our fancy ride for the night. 

"So, you're telling me that you _rented_ this Mercedes?" I said, giving him the unconvinced look as I came down the stairs in my red gown. Jane followed suit in a rose strapless that she looked stunning in (as always).

"Of course, it's not like I own a car here." That was true; Charlie usually went to places either in cabs or Will's car. He didn't have any other way of getting around.

We all laughed and proceeded to get into the car. Jane immediately got to the front seat and got in. I had on a look of confusion as Charlie said that I should have the back seat.

I just took it in stride and climbed into the back seat. I closed the door and looked to my left to see the one person that I half wanted to see and half didn't.

We looked at each other, smiling. In my mind, I had already made my decision. I really did love Will.

"Damn, the voodoo thing didn't work. You're still here." I smiled dreamily, speaking calm and softly.

He just smiled back and said, "Glad to see you're still alive, Lizzy."

**To Be Concluded… **

* * *

_A/N: Hey everybody! Did you like the chapter? I made it extra long so that you could enjoy it until the big finale!!! WHOOT!! I'm so happy._

_There's just something about this chapter that I liked and also didn't like. I finalized Lizzy and Richard's relationship and also set up for the next chapter. And I can promise you that it is going to be good._

_I've already edit the chapter so any grammatical error that you find would just be my own stupidity._**_  
_**

_I'll add some more to this note later…_

_Thanks for everybody who've read and review. had something weird going on where the email alerts weren't being sent out and that was probably why you guy did get alerted. So I apologize for that. anyways, remember to review and I'll see you next time._

_P.S. There's going to be a LOT of drama in the last chapter, you don't want to miss!!_

_ **Happy Halloween!!  
**_


	30. Things Do Work Out

**Chapter XXX: Things Do Work Out**

"You went out of your way to look nice tonight. Were you planning to pick up anybody?" Will smiled after a comfortable silence in the car.

"I was thinking about it, but now that you're here, I can't help but think 'How much alcohol are they willing to serve to me before they put me into a rehab?'" I said as the car droved up next to the hotel.

We all laughed and Charlie left the keys with the valet. We walked into the hotel building, Jane and Charlie with their arms linked, and Will and I walking closely behind them. Before going into the ballroom, we stopped by the welcoming table to pick up our place cards. My card was right above Jane's; I bent over the table, reaching for the card when my eyes caught sight of another name. Two names to be exact. "Bingley" and "Bourgh". Caroline Bingley and Catherine de Bourgh to be specific.

I took my card and looked at Charlie. "Charlie, I didn't know your sister was coming."

"Did I not tell you? So is Will's aunt." Charlie smiled, obviously oblivious of everything that was going on. _Jane, why in the world are you in love with the guy?!_

I looked at Will while Jane also gave Charlie a look, shaking her blond head.

"Did you know about this?" I asked him as we took our seats at the table.

"Yes, but listen," Will replied. "My aunt is _really okay_ with all this."

"Like I would seriously believe that, Will."

"You're right, but think about it, you're here for Jane _and_ my aunt would not act out in public."

"I suppose so, but Caroline…will."

Charlie apologized for not realizing sooner about the thing with his sister. Apparently, the host of this function was friends with Will's aunt (big contributor to the company) and the Bingley family. Everybody got invited. Wow, this was going to be one hell of a night.

* * *

After a couple of minutes of me panicking, everything calm itself down and quieted a bit. I was happily enjoying my champagne when through the doors, walked in Caroline Bingley and Catherine de Bourgh. It seemed as if they've been friends forever, chatting and smiling and yet they were still able to keep up that reserve demeanor that has made them the snobbish and condescending rich people they were born to become. 

"I'm sorry I'm late, Charlie." Caroline smiled at her brother, giving him a peck on the cheek.

She looked around the table and suddenly her fake smile vanished as her eyes fell on me and Will sitting next to each other. She decided to ignore it and turned to Jane, exclaiming that it had been far too long since she has seen her.

Will's aunt looked at me in disgust as Will got up to greet her (I tried not to notice but I saw her whispering something into Will's ear, eyeing me while she was at it) and the two women sat themselves down. They ordered their drinks and proceeded to talk amongst themselves.

"What did your aunt say about me?" I said softly, making it seemed as if I was just staring off into space.

"She didn't say anything about you, don't worry too much." He said softly back.

"Fine, I'll try not to over-think things."

* * *

The dinner started once the ballroom filled up with people and the host came out to greet us. It was nonsense that nobody should really pay attention to accept for the host's family. 

Anyways, the food came out after that and it was extremely good. You can never go wrong with soup and pasta especially when they were good soup and pasta. (Not like I paid enough attention to care…) The room filled with conversation but our table was quiet which consequently made everything feel quiet. It was like how you're in a high school lunch room and everything is extremely loud but you tend to tune everything out. It was kind of like that.

Eventually, Charlie and Jane started having their own private conversation but that was about it because the whole time, Mrs. De Bourgh and Caroline were staring at Will and me. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

Before the desserts were served, I excused myself to go to the "ladies' room" because I just needed to escape the stuffy atmosphere. I was in the restroom for barely a minute when the door swung opened and in came Caroline.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked cryptically.

"What are you talking about?"

"Are you purposely trying to take Will away from me? I mean, I'd thought you'd never do such a thing.You were always such the sensible person."

"Will left you for reasons other than wanting to be with me, you fully know that. You're mistaken if you think that you could just take him back after what you did…despicable."

""I didn't think that you felt this way when you left him five years ago."

"Things change, Caroline. People change. Time apparently stood still for you though." I concluded.

"You think you're so great but face it, Lizzy. Will will never be happy with a girl of such a low status."

"And yet he would be happy with a liar?" I asked. A couple of women came out of the stalls, washed up and quickly got out, glancing at the two women who were obviously arguing about one man.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm just saying, I don't think Will will be coming back to you anytime soon, considering you lied about the pregnancy."

Caroline seemed shock to know that I knew about this whole ordeal, because she asked, "How did you know?"

"Haven't you figured out by now that I know a lot of things? Maybe a little too much for my own good."

"Either way," Caroline mustered up the confidence again to talk to me. (Has this girl no shame?) "Will will never be happy with you."

"Ditto, it's a shame that my niece and nephew have you as an aunt, Caroline." I walked out of the restroom, leaving Caroline with a look shock and confusion on her face.

* * *

I walked back to the table and saw that a piece of cheesecake was waiting for me. I grinned happily and sliced a piece with my fork. It was divine! 

Caroline returned to the table a few moments after that, obviously upset, and sat down and stabbed her piece of cake.

"What was that all about?" Jane leaned sideways to ask me. I told her that it was nothing. She didn't seem to have believed me, seeing as how Caroline has taken to finish her glass of champagne in one gulp with an angry glare still on her face.

The music started up after that and Charlie got up to ask Jane to dance. Jane happily accepted, took his hand and they both walked toward the dance floor.

The table was yet again silent while we all watched Jane and Charlie happily sway to the music.

I was gazing at them when somebody came up to me and asked me to dance. I accepted just out of politeness. We danced and talked a little, introducing ourselves. He was the host's son and was being bombarded with girls wanting to dance with him and he just needed to escape. I laughed at this and told him a little about myself.

"I hope your boyfriend isn't too mad at me." He smiled.

"Boyfriend?"

"The guy you were sitting next to…"

"Oh no, he's not my boyfriend."

"Why isn't he? He looked like he played the part when I came over."

"I don't know why he isn't."

"Well, you better get to him before I do." He smiled mischievously, winking at me.

I laughed and we kept on dancing. I had a marvelous time with Andrew that night. In fact, we decided to have an outing the next day. We've been friends ever since. (But that could always be the start of another story.)

Andrew and I took a break later and I walked around. I became tired and I stopped to lean against a pillar. I was about to walk around the pillar to face the dance floor when I saw Caroline and Will dancing. They were pretty close to the pillar so I had to hide on the other side so that drunken Caroline wouldn't see me. (That would be one scary thought. I mean, to have Caroline yell at you when she was drunk.)

"Come on, Will. You know that we could always start over, right?"

"No, Caroline, I thought I made this very clear that this could never happen."

"But I'm perfect for you." She slurred.

"Maybe for somebody else, but not me." He confirmed.

"And that Lizzy _is_? But she is not like us, Will. She wasn't brought up like us."

"Exactly, she isn't anyone I've ever met before. She's different and she's someone I need."

"Fine, don't think that I will wait for you, Will." Apparently she turned around (judging from the sound of her heels) and left.

I looked around the pillar and saw that Will was watching Caroline walk off with his hands running through his hair. I slowly walked up behind him and slid my arm around his arm so that we linked.

He looked at me to see that I was smiling. He also smiled and asked me what had happen with the guy that I was dancing with.

I grinned and kissed him on the dance floor, when I had broken off the kiss, he asked me what that was for.

"I decided to get to you before Andrew did." He didn't really get what I was talking about but he didn't press on.

We hugged each other and danced until the night ended (or at least, the function). This was it; Will and I have finally decided to stay together. There was no way that I could've described the feelings that I felt. It was a peace of mind to know that I wanted to be with the one person I love and he also wanted to be with me.

Like people said, "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings". The night didn't end until I had champagne thrown at my face and being called a 'Bitch!" by Caroline. I suppose I deserved it in Mrs. De Bourgh and Caroline's eyes. They just didn't see it the way that everybody else saw it.

It provided closure, I'm sure.

* * *

Jane and I went home that night with happy feelings and happy thoughts. The twins were already asleep but Jane thought that they needed to be awake for her to tell them the news. (Because telling them when they're sleeping wouldn't be the brightest thing to do.) 

"Christina…Jack…wake up. Mommy wants to tell you something." Jane whispered to them.

They woke up, rubbing their eyes and looked at Jane and me.

I smiled; I had a feeling of what might be happening next.

"What is it, Mommy?" Jack asked as CJ walked over to hug me. I picked her up and walked back to her bed, sitting down (still in my dress).

"I have to ask you something…what do you think about Charlie?" She asked cautiously.

"We think he's very nice, and very spacey." They both grinned at the mention of his name.

"Why?" CJ asked, giving her mother a suspicious look which was her crumbling her face.

"Well, I was thinking about marrying him. What do you guys think of that?" Seriously, Jane shouldn't be so nervous about all this.

"Go ahead." CJ said.

"It would be nice to have a Daddy around. Uncle Richard is great and all but he's not always around." Jack concluded.

"Kids your age don't really talk like that, you know" I said, smiling.

"We know, but they think that way."

"They do?" Jane asked.

"Well, at least we do."

* * *

Jane and Charlie got married a year later in New York. Will was the best man and I was the maid of honor. It was a nice simple wedding, with soft white rose petals everywhere. CJ and Jack accepted that Charlie was their dad and Charlie was happy that his kids was so much like their mother. Jane and Charlie decided to move the whole family back to New York. They've lived there ever since. 

Caroline married somebody obscenely wealthy (as expected). She didn't have any kids, stating that "kids scare the hell out of me" (accredited to _People_ magazine).

Anne de Bourgh lived with her mother every time she was back in England. She eventually met a lawyer from her mother's firm and fell in love. I was the maid of honor at her wedding too.

Collins and Mary had two sets of twins. This was an astonishment to both the couple and everybody else. They still are very happy in Maine, with Collins calling me occasionally to tell me how happy his life was.

My mother and father still ran the bakery but later retired to travel the world together. Between travels, they lived in the same house in England that Jane and I had shared. Their house in New York was left to me. That was where I lived, once I moved back to New York with Jane.

* * *

You might ask what happened to me, especially with me and Will. Well, we didn't marry until several years. This was because we didn't really date for that long when we were at Yale. 

Do you remember what I said at the beginning of this love story? I told you that love stinks and that it always comes back to bite you.

Well, what I said was true in many ways. Love really did bite me a couple of times, but it worked itself out. Don't you think so?

So, did Will and I have a happy ending? I guess, it's time to have our quote of the day, huh?

**Real love stories never have endings. Richard Bach**

How right he would be….

**The End?**

* * *

_A/N: Hey, everybody!! This is finally the end! Wow, this story lasted since February, which is very impressive, considering this is my first fan fiction._

_So, for your very last review (and I expect for everybody to review), I would like you to tell how you like the chapter, the story, and my writing. I think I should write another modern P&P because I love those so much. They are my absolute favorite. And like this one, it might not be true to the story. I think it adds a lot of spirit to the story, don't you think?_

_Anyways, I would talk to you soon…remember to review._

_**Thanks to all my reviewers and the readers who have been with me since the beginning. Thank you, everybody!**_

_**Bye!!**_


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